It's an ambitious work and shouldn't be too readily dismissed for its semi-successful foray into spirit-land. There is much else to enjoy and a wonderful terrain to discover.
Disappearances (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:11
Rotten:10
Average Rating:6/10
Synopsis: Though set in Vermont during the Prohibition, this film starring Kris Kristofferson is in the grand tradition of classic westerns. Featuring picturesque cinematography of the border between Canada... Though set in Vermont during the Prohibition, this film starring Kris Kristofferson is in the grand tradition of classic westerns. Featuring picturesque cinematography of the border between Canada and Vermont, DISAPPEARANCES centers on Quebec Bill (Kristofferson, LONE STAR), a man who resorts to whiskey running to get his family through the harsh winter. Joined by his son, Quebec Bill crosses the border into Canada on a trip that will challenge them and endanger their lives. Luis Guzman and Genevieve Bujold costar. [More]
Starring: Kris Kristofferson, Luis Guzmán, William Sanderson, Genevičve Bujold
Starring: Kris Kristofferson, Luis Guzmán, William Sanderson, Genevičve Bujold
Director: Jay Craven
Director: Jay Craven
Reviews for Disappearances
There's a special Boy Scout charm to it all that I was enchanted with.
The movie has a literary quality, and not just because everyone's always quoting Shakespeare.
A marvelous, subtly crafted elegy to a bygone era that balances its scenes of violence and gunplay with laconic humor.
Labored, a bit of backwoods magical realism that wants to soar but never takes off.
Magic realism is a tricky thing to pull off in a movie, and Disappearances, the third of Mr. Craven’s films based on Mr. Mosher’s novels, only occasionally succeeds.
Craven never quite manages to make it all seem a smoothly integrated piece.
The beautifully photographed Disappearances is solidly old-fashioned entertainment.
If you're one of those people (like this reviewer) who can watch Kris Kristofferson do just about anything, you won't insist on the references being that solid.
Craven layers the film's central narrative concerns with mounds of metaphorical gunk, most of which proves more ponderous than entrancing.
Though set in Vermont in the 1930s, this has the feel of a Western -- one with mystical overtones -- and provides a great role for Kris Kristofferson, who's looking well weathered these days.
Jay Craven's stilted adaptation of a novel by Howard Frank Mosher lacks the urgency, the poetry, or the feeling for period that might have brought the material to life, while the cast seems to be largely squandered.
Shot for only $1.7 million, but it's a thoroughly entertaining, first-class job in every way.
The story might sound fine on paper, but it didn't quite work out that well when filmed.
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