''The Missing Person'' is a 2009 American drama-mystery film written and directed by American independent filmmaker

Noah Buschel Noah Buschel (born 1978) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Buschel was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Career Buschel's first film, '' Bringing Rain'', ...

and starring

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

and

Amy Ryan Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee. Ryan began her pr ...

. It premiered at the

2009 Sundance Film Festival The 2009 Sundance Film Festival was held during January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. Award winners *Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - '' We Live in Public'' *Grand Jury Prize ...

. and was distributed by

Strand Releasing Strand Releasing is an American film production company founded in 1989 and is based in Culver City, California. The company has distributed over 300 auteur-driven titles from acclaimed international and American directors such as Apichatpong Wee ...

to a limited number of theaters on November 20, 2009.

Plot summary

John Rosow (

) is an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

. Suddenly Rosow is given the case of his life when he is hired to tail a man named Harold Fullmer ( Frank Wood) on a train. Rosow soon discovers that Fullmer is one of the thousands presumed missing after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

, and that Fullmer has fashioned a new life for himself. As the film progresses, Rosow faces the moral decision to take Fullmer, unwilling, back to his wife in New York, or letting him remain in his fabricated life.

Cast

as John Rosow * Frank Wood as Harold Fullmer *

as Miss Charley * Linda Emond as Megan Fullmer *

Paul Sparks Paul Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'', writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series '' House of Cards'', m ...

as Gus *

Margaret Colin Margaret Colin (born May 26, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Margo Hughes on '' As the World Turns'' and as Eleanor Waldorf-Rose on '' Gossip Girl''. Early life Margaret Colin was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and ...

as Lana Cobb *

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor and writer, known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the ABC medical drama '' Private Prac ...

as Drexler Hewitt

Reception and release

The film holds a 67% positive rating on the

film-critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. Buschel was nominated for the 2009 Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Director for his work on the film. According to

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray be ...

, the film had grossed $48,895 as of March 2, 2010. It appeared on IFC.com's list of the ten best films of 2009,

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...

's list of the Top Three Films of 2009, and

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

critic Dennis Harvey's list of the Top 25 films of the year.

References

External links

*
Michael Shannon On Strand Releasing's Failure To Promote

Michael Shannon Missing Person Interview

IFC Alison Willmore Michael Shannon Interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missing Person, The 2009 films American mystery films 2000s English-language films Films about missing people Films based on the September 11 attacks 2000s mystery films Films directed by Noah Buschel 2000s American films