Truly Dreadful Film

good back-story, and good acting

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Given the cast and the type of story being told, I had high hopes for this movie. Within about 10 minutes, however, I was beginning to realise I'd been sold a pup. The main fault lies with the writing. The characters just aren't developed well enough to be even remotely believable, and what psychology they have is all wrong. Danny Glover's character, for instance, is a Vietnam vet who's taken himself off to the backwoods and turned his back on society. The only real face-to-face contact he has with another human comes once a month at the grocery store - and that's hardly a memorable or happy communion. But then, within a few short scenes, he's reconciled to this difficult child of an army pal he hasn't seen for decades. The child has lost her father - the emotional centre of her life at that point - but doesn't seem to suffer much in the way of grief (unless you call a few nights of tears grief). There was a great movie to be made here. Unfortunately, due to the bad writing, that movie didn't materialise. I disagree with critics who say it was badly acted. The actors did their level best with the script they were given. You can only be as good as the material you have to work with.

This is one of the better movies exploring the lives of Vietnam veterans still struggling with life after the war. Very timely when you think about the thousands of Iraqi vets who will be the next generation of forgotten heroes. Fantastic acting by Danny Glover and Zoe Weizenbaum (I hope we see more of her in the future). The plot is a little weak but very engaging. The running time is surprisingly short at 105 minutes. There was lots of unexplored territory in the plot (the relationship between Glover and Linda Hamilton's character, the potential search for his son) but perhaps keeping the plot simple is part of the appeal. I would have rated it higher but the ending was a big letdown. I don't mind sad endings as long as it feels like it's part of a greater message.

Considering the often harsh votes on movies here on IMDb, I was looking forward to this unknown movie scoring a 6.6. After watching it, though, it's completely beyond me how this movie ever got that rating. It lacks pretty much any kind of involving story-arc, seemingly patching a series of rather unrelated events together. Despite the seasoned cast, acting is wooden and dialog contrived. The girl in the lead role is just too old to get away with her part, though the layers of make-up probably didn't help her any.As mentioned, the story lacks real surprises. Despite dealing with the serious subject of Vietnam veterans, it is just too sweet to be credible. This movie could go straight to Hallmark Channel and never be noticed.

My whole family loved this movie! I can't fathom why a movie of this caliber is not in theaters drawing record crowds. It was so much better than most of the movies that Hollywood makes such a big deal over these days. My 16 year old daughter didn't quite understand why the title of the film was "Missing In America" but after I explained the plight of the psychologically scarred veterans in this country, she agreed that it was the perfect title. I'm so glad that all the big name movies at my local Blockbuster were rented so that I had to look more closely for a movie to watch. It just goes to show, sometimes it is worth your while to look past all the commercial movies at the video store and try the unfamiliar.