Without a Trace (1983)

Memorable, crazy movie

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Superb. One of the best films I've seen in a very long time.Judd Hirsch and Kate Nelligan show what stuff good actors are made of by their outstanding performances as the police detective and mother of a kidnapped child. Their film chemistry is magnificent. They are ably supported by the late David Dukes, the estranged husband and father of the victim. Stockard Channing has a small but pivotal role as the friend who doesn't want this apparent tragedy to totally consume Nelligan. With those eyes of hers, she looks suspicious, not well-meaning.The film pulls out all emotional stops and shows an engaging media, parent groups willing to help with posters and a terrific police department. As time goes on, interest in the case sizzles and is closed when a suspect, a cleaning man for the family, is arrested.This film provides some intellectual taste as both Dukes and Nelligan are college professor, the former the head of the English Department, and she a member of the department at Columbia University.This is definitely riveting drama at its best. The viewer is in for an emotional ride. As stated, Hirsch is terrific here as he lets his emotions run wild with him.By the way, in these kind of cases, all leads must be pursued.

Stanley R. Jaffe's sole directorial effort is a disappointingly tepid and meandering film. Based on the novel Still Missing, the story is eerily similar to the real life disappearance of Etan Patz who has never been found, and what should have been gripping and moving is a standard Lifetime Channel movie weighed down by dreary, predictable dialog, and characters and situations that feel gratuitous. Kate Nelligan's tightly controlled performance may leave you cold or worse; she is neither sympathetic nor likable, and her brooding become tiresome. Jaffe drags the pace until boredom prevails, and in a lackluster and largely unnecessary supporting cast only Keith McDermott scores a success while a frazzled Stockard Channing resembles a train wreck. And the out of left field happy ending is hokey and strangely unsatisfying. Skip It!

I enjoyed this story, but it could have been a bit more. When a child goes missing, shouldn't a parent be more than concerned, unlike what is portrayed here? Susan Selky doesn't take this very seriously until about halfway through the movie. And am I supposed to believe that a bunch of cops would sit around this apartment, waiting for events to take place. It's as if they are on a stakeout. This movie isn't at all boring or unconvincing, it just needed more reality to it. As for the ending (I don't want to give anything away), well, it's not exactly a realistic one. Are all people who see this movie supposed to believe that a cop, who is really taking his son on some outing, would drive all the way to Connecticut just because he saw a road sign as a reminder? The conclusion of the movie isn't unconvincing, but I would have preferred a much different one (except for the mother-son reunion, of course).**1/2 out of ****

I won't go into the specifics of the movie as many other here have already done that. To those that were wondering about the DVD - It is out on DVD now. I think it came out in March 2005. I bought it as soon as it became available.Another thing. This movie is widely known as being based on real events. It may or may not be but we know it is based on a novel by Beth Gutcheon called "Still Missing". Whether that novel is based on a actual event I can't say for sure.There was one comment here by someone who said the movie was no good. I don't know what movie she was watching as it sure wasn't this one. She said the houseboy cut himself shaving or something to that affect. Not true. This tells me she didn't watch the movie very closely.To end this I will just say 'Without A Trace' is one of my favorite movies of all time. Top 10? Maybe not but it is up there. Great, I mean really great acting by Kate Nelligan and Judd Hirsch. David Dukes and Stockard Channing really flex their acting muscles here as well.