Description
THE MISSING PERSON
He’s on the case of his life.
The extraordinary Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) – an Oscar-nominee for his role in Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road – is the wry, dry anti-hero of this wonderfully unique modern-day film noir. He plays John Rosow, an unwaveringly old-fashioned private detective prone to sardonic wit, alcohol, and capital-T trouble.
Rosow is awoken – hungover as always – at an obscene hour by the sound of his mobile phone. “Get to the train station by 7”, he’s told. “Board the California Zephyr train from Chicago to L.A; there’s a man to tail. Five hundred dollars a day, plus expenses … not including gin.”
The caller’s assistant Miss Charley (Amy Ryan) is waiting outside his apartment with a down-payment and a photo, and Rosow’s soon on the case. As he sets out after his mark, he gradually begins to unravel the identity of the man he’s following and is plunged headlong into a tale of seduction, deceit and corruption – one that leads him inextricably to his own profoundly-troubled past…
Getting right to the heart of the classic noirs of the 40s and 50s, writer/director Noah Buschel’s THE MISSING PERSON is, deliciously, set in a post 9/11 world littered with moral and political anxiety, a world beyond right and wrong. Awash with desaturated colour and a judicious jazz score, the action plays out with rich dialogue, surreal humour and neatly inverted expectations.
