MovieChat Forums > Missing in America (2005) Discussion > Anyone else think this was pretty bad?

Anyone else think this was pretty bad?


The story seemed contrived and the acting was pretty horrendous :\

I dunno, maybe I'm a bit sour from a string of mediocre movies, but I was just writhing around in pain at some of the performances and at the plot twists.

Silly silly silly. I do know a lot of people that are OK with sub-par acting and fairly ridiculous plots, so to them I could recommend it (the ending aaaaalmost made some sort of emotion pop out of me, I could see those types getting emotional/crying). If you're a stickler for those kinds of things, however, I wouldn't recommend.

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This movie was brilliant. I am not sure how old you are or what movies you deem as good acting, but I mostly disagree with your post.

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[deleted]

I, too, thought it was contrived, and poorly acted... considering that some of the best actors around were in it. I think, tho, it was the problem of the writing, not of the acting. It was not easy for the great Danny Glover to speak some of his inane lines.

The subject matter is important... too bad it was so poorly executed.

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Unfortunately it was bad. Another vanity project, as many are in the indie world when a rich dad or husband or uncle give you a lot of money to bore audiences out of their minds. Most of the people have no story qualifications, nor have they bothered with developing a story. The sugar coated mushy stuff makes your jaw cringe, kind of like when you eat too much of the sweet stuff and then your jaw hurts.
Oh...and at the end, you're supposed to sigh and go " Ah... how moving". Yes, it was moving..my stomach moved.

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I agree totally with you guys. I had high hopes for this film(being one of the few films that Ron Perlman is in that I can find to rent) But i was diappointed and mad at the film(maybe just the characters and the ending...ugh the ending was stupid). It was a bad movie! What was the point?

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The only performance that really got my goat was Linda Hamilton's who just seemed to be in this movie on a dare.

forgotten...and don't you forget it

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I agree that it was bad, except for the little girl's acting. Did any of you notice that the father's name was on the Wall, even though he didn't die in the war? BIG plot hole.

The ending was bad. Why did they even mention Danny Glover's kid--you'd think he would go looking for him.

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My interpretation is he would go looking for his son after he went to the Wall and got past it. They just didn't tie that up in the film but left the door open for him. Notice how he touched the photo of the son in the same way he touched the girl's nose and then Doll's nose at the Wall. The signs are there that he will go find his son, just not during the film. Personally I respect them for not tying it all up. Let us think for ourselves.
The name on the wall isn't a plot hole. Watch the alternate ending on the DVD.
I loved this movie. I could watch it again and again. The DVD extras are great. They filmed the whole Wall at sunrise and made it into a little mini-doc about the Wall.
I'm giving this DVD to all of my friends for Christmas.

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Well my opinion may be different if I watch it again, but I'd say it's pretty good for 3 o clock in the morning...

- "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
-Gail Sheehy

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I can explain this plot hole. Ken Miller is a family friend of mine. and the ending you saw is not the ending he wanted. It was changed on him by the producers or whoever. The ending he wanted was a twist in which Lenny's father was dead the whole time having died in the war, and Glovers whole time with Lenny was in his head and not real. Check it out on DVD and check out the alternate ending I like that much better then the sad ending that was made.

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I liked this movie even though some of the acting was bad (including the girl). Plus, when they found Lenny after the blast, she didn't look at all like someone who had been fatally injured, not even a scratch on her, which led me to mistakenly believe she survived it.

But the soryline and music score was brilliant which earns it a thumbs up from me.

-L31

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I do! The acting was, for most parts, not very good. I don't see why anyone thought the girl was acting good, because I tend to think the exact opposite. For the storyline: been there, done that. Nothing special. The Vietnam flashbacks weren't really important for the storyline as well. A 6/10 would be rather generous.

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Yeah; it was a low-budget picture and suffered for it. I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed that the branch that Lenny was holding onto was obviously fake.

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The actors seem to be forced to act in this movie.All them are lazy and sleepless.The characters are supposed to be tormented, not bored with life.

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Actually I m guessing that you may not have known any veterans really well,especially veterans that did not adjust to the return to the States very well. I lived with a vietnam veteran who was regular army so he was active before and after and served mor than one tour in Vietnam. He had a lot of ghost.. Had he not had the kind of job that allowed him a lot of freedom,few rules and little contact with people.. he would have been much the same. He was a chopper pilot in vietnam and here..He had friends that he flew goods to that live deep in the swamp. I work in EMS and we have vets tht all of us know by name that can not live in the mainstream, some of them live on skid row, others live off the land where they can..


The story is not that contrived. WE deal with people who leave thei children with friends and family when they get sick -legally it doesnt stand but most people do not realize that, especially if they are sick or scared.

i enjoyned the movie, I do not like what happens to Lenny but it is still a good movie and reminds us, we have another generation of vets that will deal with many of the same emotional scars as the vietnam vet, with one exception, they have been shown respect and honor upon returning home. Vietnam vets were not shown respect, were treated dishonorably, we spit on, were called baby killers..and mny of them had not even chosen to go, they were drafted. Each war has a group of men and women home that were hurt not only physically but also emotionaly.

Nicole

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Actually I m guessing that you may not have known any veterans really well,especially veterans that did not adjust to the return to the States very well. I lived with a vietnam veteran who was regular army so he was active before and after and served mor than one tour in Vietnam. He had a lot of ghost.. Had he not had the kind of job that allowed him a lot of freedom,few rules and little contact with people.. he would have been much the same. He was a chopper pilot in vietnam and here..He had friends that he flew goods to that live deep in the swamp. I work in EMS and we have vets tht all of us know by name that can not live in the mainstream, some of them live on skid row, others live off the land where they can..


The story is not that contrived. WE deal with people who leave thei children with friends and family when they get sick -legally it doesnt stand but most people do not realize that, especially if they are sick or scared.

i enjoyned the movie, I do not like what happens to Lenny but it is still a good movie and reminds us, we have another generation of vets that will deal with many of the same emotional scars as the vietnam vet, with one exception, they have been shown respect and honor upon returning home. Vietnam vets were not shown respect, were treated dishonorably, we spit on, were called baby killers..and mny of them had not even chosen to go, they were drafted. Each war has a group of men and women home that were hurt not only physically but also emotionaly.

Nicole

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Ponyiq, no one (but the author of the thread) is saying the story's contrived. I find it utterably believable. I think most of the "negative" comments here are focused on EXECUTION--the acting, script, and primarily the DIRECTION.

I love movies about smalltown lives and "outsiders" like these vietnam vets living off the land, but despite the charm of the scenery and production value (the music reminded me of Angels in America, and I wouldn't mind living in that cabin for a summer), the Script WAS hindered by truly bad execution. It's my belief that the choices and oversights of a first-time director make it a weak film. I WANTED to love it--i was rooting for it, but i found it just OKAY.

David Stratharin (for the ten minutes he is in it) was horrible--and i love him in 90% of his films. Glover was passable as Jake. Linda was terrible (let's be honest, people!). And Zoe, the little girl, is too cutesy in a lot of her scenes. I recommend you see a little indie movie called Twelve and Holding--she's 1,000x better.

My favorite part of this movie was the recurring cabbage patch doll and her giant feet--couldn't get enough.

Regarding the alternate ending someone mentioned--i'm glad it was scrapped. It would have created more questions at the end of the movie if Lenny had been a figment of jake's imagination. How could you explain how everyone around him interacted with her the way they did--mass hallucination??

As for the movie, i suspect it would have been better with a more experienced director.

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"no one (but the author of the thread) is saying the story's contrived."

Nonsense, other posters either agreed or explicitly said it was contrived. And Ponyiq was responding to the OP.

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I agree with the writing part. I really hate what happened to the kid in this movie toward the end to me it was pointless and if you have seen it you know what I mean. I mean can anyone here tell me that??

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