The Missing is another quality program offered up by Starz after they premiered Outlander earlier this year. Virtually every cable and premium channel now gives us original dramatic programming. This is a co-production with the BBC, and as usual British shows offer really great alternatives to some of the more tired network offerings in the US. Some of the early shows from Starz were a little suspect so I steered clear of them, but as of late I keep coming back to see what’s new on that channel. And no, I don’t pay for Starz, I happily use my dad’s password. Thanks dad! The Missing stars James Nesbitt as the father of a child who is taken while on a family holiday in France. You might know Nesbitt from his terrific work in Paul Greengrass’s Bloody Sunday, Steven Moffat’s Jekyll, Five Minutes of Heaven with Liam Neeson, Danny Boyle’s Millions, and as Bofur in The Hobbit films. The Northern Irish actor is terrific as usual and I’m always appreciative when he’s given more of a starring role. Nesbitt’s performance here is very nuanced and made all the more impressive due to the series narrative structure. The series splits time between 2006 when the child was taken and the present day when 8 years later he returns to France with a new clue about his son’s kidnapping. This structure allows Nesbitt to show the absolute fear but yet glimmers of hope in 2006 and the utter despair in 2014. Much has changed in the intervening 8 years for him. We want to know how the circumstances in 2014 came to be from what occurred back in 2006. We are given clues in the past only for them to be dashed in the present. This structure, while tried before elsewhere to so-so results, shines here with a great performance by Nesbitt.
The search for the child is frustrated with typical bureaucratic red tape and a police force that communicates poorly with the family. All of this frustration is bellied by the language barrier as most of the investigation is done by French characters and the family is English. This barrier is played up on screen as subtitles are only given when the only characters on screen are native speakers. If a member of the family is present no subtitles are used so we can feel how they do being a fish out of water, not being able to understand those who are supposed to be helping them. The french countryside is also used to great effect with it often being rainy and dreary. The scenery is beautiful yet haunting. I think this is what I wanted Fox’s mini-series Gracepoint to end up being. That show has ultimately disappointed. The Missing succeeds by having a narrower focus. Where Gracepoint meanders with a dozen plus central characters, the focus in The Missing is narrowed by only following the family and investigators.
Frances O’Connor plays a rather unsympathetic mother, at least in 2014, but we still feel her pain in 2006. There are the beginnings of the trope of the mother blaming the father for the disappearance, but we’re not quite there yet, and there is hope it is going to be dealt with in another way. In 2014 she is in London, at least for the time being, and her physical separation aids in her much different type of character in each time period. You should check her out in great films like A.I. and The Hunter and another good British TV series, Mr. Selfridge. The chief investigator is played by Turkish-French actor Tcheky Karyo. American audiences know him as ‘the French Guy’ in films like Bad Boys, The Patriot, and The Core. Some of those are rather poor but his effort here is very good.
With other fall series heading towards their winter hiatuses (I checked the plural of hiatus is not hiati, just FYI) you should give this limited series, with only 8 episodes in its run, a try. The first two episodes are available on Starz right now and the third episode is available overseas if you’re clamoring for it as much as I am. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I have.
midwestmovieman 