This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Long nights for things to go bump in
Plot Overview
“Whiz kid” Jim Noble (Ben
Crowley) became a full blown attorney (“very driven”)
at age twenty-two, married trophy wife Sarah (Teri Polo,) sister to
Anchorage police chief Jack Musker (Dermot Mulroney,) and had a cute
daughter Amy (Chloe Lesslie.) When Amy was three, Jim had an affair
with his mousey secretary, which chilled his spouse and alienated
his brother-in-law. He's now an oil executive, Sarah is married to
her architect work, Amy at 7 has an imaginary friend/teddy bear, and
student Megan McGuire (Skyler Shaye) her baby sitter down the street
dotes on her. Their double, high end income has made the couple's
kid a target for kidnappers right when the lowlifes Jim put away
would be getting out. In Anchorage they didn't lock their doors. Amy
was taken.
The chief assigns the case top priority
(“I know she hasn't been gone 24 hours, but this is my family,
my niece.”) He puts his top investigator on it, Det. Jon “Quick Draw” Koski
(Jon Voight) who's about to retire after an illustrious career retrieving
missing children and putting away their abductors one way or another. Megan
persuades her boyfriend Farley Connors (Julian Morris) host of a psychic
hot line show to offer his services to the family & police. And sundry
officers show up to trample the scene. It's a full court press.
I'm reminded of the story where a rich Jew comes home to discover his place has been burglarized. He calls 9–1–1 and the dispatcher sends over a K–9 team that had just finished another call in the neighborhood. He hears a knock on the door, opens it to see the police with their dogs, and declares, “Oy! Vey! I've been burgled and I call the police and they send blind cops.”
Ideology
Koski explains to the tetchy “entitled city-boy”: “Mr. Noble, it's my job to think that everybody's involved in this until proven otherwise.” The psychic for his part suspects Koski as having engineered a high-profile case to go out on. Those two get into a tussle over reciprocal suspicions. Koski is also a friend of Sarah's through her brother. The case is ingrown to the nth degree.
The psychic lines of suspicion run with, (Eccl. 10:20) “Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” Within these metaphors a bird carrying criticism represents a false note in the voice of the secret critic, and telling wings represent body language sending a chill on the observer. The corresponding New Testament verse is, (James 4:11-12) “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” It's best to leave the suspicions to the professionals rather than let them run rife among the civilians.
As for the so-called psychic, he's very
observant and, “He's just telling you what you want to hear.”
He figures out that the detective is tormented over an earlier case
of a missing girl named Aurora (Gabrielle Elyse Thompson) who haunts
his dreams and who the psychic purports is helping him from the Great
Beyond. Coincidentally, Amy names her teddy bear Rory. But then
among Amy's drawings is one of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights,)
and this is, after all, Alaska. The psychic has glimpses of where
Amy is, but they can apply to lots of locations: Smell of the sea
(in Alaska,) dogs barking (man's best friend,) horses (there are still
stables around,) and a church with a bell tower (Jon used to worship
at one.) It's the regular psychic spiel but on the big screen. In
the end these two are similar, “You have it, too. You see things
just like I do.” There is one big difference, though. The
showman is always swooning when he sees things; Jon, though,
stays stock still to steady his aim or fly his plane.
Production Values
“” (2012) was directed by Josef Rusnak. It was written by Gregory Gieras. It stars Jon Voight, Teri Polo and Ben Crowley. Voight gave a good performance. Teri Polo was well cast as a beautiful woman married to a go-getter. The rest of the actors sucked, though Skyler Shaye as the snarky baby sitter provided some welcome dramatic relief.
MPAA rated it PG–13 for some violence, and brief strong language. The scenery and photography exploit Alaska's beauty. Dramatic music attempts to patch up a flagging plot.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
I'd call this one a nice try, a paint-by-numbers missing-child thriller set in the far north. The main characters span a wide age range, which would make this one good for family viewing, and it keeps one guessing. With limited expectations, you might enjoy it.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Some suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
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