rated R, In a movie written by Richard Price adapted from his own novel, comes a disjointed film about a woman (Julianne Moore) who discovers her white child is missing in a black neighborhood. And since she doesn’t seem to behave, respond or care about the kidnapping from the first scene on, neither do we. Samuel L. Jackson, on the other hand, gives a effortlesss and believeable performance as the detective assigned the case, even though the role provides less bite than he usually handles. Edie Falco plays an evangelist for missing children, who seems to care more about the-little-boy-lost than his own mother, busy making a guest appearance at a nursery school to cheer the students. I’m sorry, but find me one mother who would take time to do this within 24 hours of their child reported missing? While classless characters like Julia Roberts in “Erin Brokovitch” or Charlize Theron in “North Country” are likable, Moore’s character is not. She’s even oddly detestable, though I’m never quite convinced it’s completely her fault. She seems to do the best she can do with the material she’s working with. One positive exception is her riveting speech about what may have happened to her son on the night in question. Of course the bigger question is why she continues taking these type of roles? Didn’t she just do this (and better) in “The Forgotten”? This ain’t no “Deep End of The Ocean” and Moore is certainly no MIchelle Pfeifer. One tiara
