7.5 stars.
Whether they took too many liberties or whatever, I still was semi-thrilled by the suspense and missing person vibe throughout the film. It's really about a family who is not getting along for some reason. It appears to be the father who is somewhat of a deadbeat, he had a major injury while performing manual labor for his job, but it's not totally clear at first. He's been unemployed for a while now and his kids are suffering for it. So he's trying to get a job while his wife and kids are doing their thing. But the film is not about the dad, I only talk of him because he's the reason they are all so sullen and lost. The mom is the main character, she's a great actress, I've always loved her, on the "OC", she was totally the best, but I know the actress herself had some issues back in the day, haven't seen her much, if ever, in the past 17 years. I just looked up shows she was in. Did you know she was in a show called "Perception" about 8 years back? Look at the cast, wow that's a bunch of very familiar actors. I might have to look into it.
Anyways, the boy who gets lost, we have no idea how or why he was lost, but his journey is an intriguing one and as we watch the puzzle pieces coming together, it's an entertaining ride (even if not the intent). I won't spoil it by telling you if he lives or dies.
I probably saw this 15 years ago, just don't remember it, but all the actors are familiar to me. It's a basic story, but for a minimum budget production and some decent search and rescue low-key action, it works.
