Take a drink every time Angie says "my son"

The score was irritating, and the film could have used a good 20-25 minute trim (after turning in the first draft, J. Michael Straczynski asked Clint if he had any notes or suggestions for the next draft, and Clint said, naw, let's go shoot it as is... er...)

And the entire enterprise is RELENTLESSLY bleak... there's some rays of hope and a little bit of humor, but overall it's a depressing exercise... I kept thinking of the old Costa-Gavras movie Missing, with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek... I'd say that movie was just as bleak but better acted...

However, there *is* something to be said about the way the film was shot (beautifully), and while Angie overdid the "GIMME BACK MY SON!" bit I wasn't irritated by her performance... wouldn't surprise me if she gets a nomination...

There were other strong performances as well... Malkovich was aight, but nothing special to write home about... I also liked Amy Ryan, even though she was in the movie for about 15 minutes total... I also thought Jason Butler Harner was quite effective as Northcott... as the police captain/main antagonist, Jeffrey Donovan was so hissable I was halfway expecting him to tell Angie to call him "Snidely Whiplash" and twirl his fake moustache...

Now, there's certainly an interesting story in here (Straczynski said that 95% of the plot you see on the screen is true); it's just that the whole enterprise is just so damn dour and depressing that I'm not sure that the end justifies the means...
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<------ Master Baiters, read it and weep.