She's Gone (2004) starring Ray Winstone, Lindsey Coulson, Gary Lucy, Emily Corrie, Haluk Bilginer, David Westhead, Dimitri Andreas, Mem Ferda directed by Adrian Shergold Movie Review

She's Gone (2004)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Ray Winstone in She's Gone (2004) (aka: Disappeared)

Searching

Harry Sands (Ray Winstone) has worked hard for what he has got but he is also a family man who loves his daughter and worries that she is in Istanbul, Turkey on charity work. But then he stops hearing from her and his fears come true when he learns that she has gone missing. Having arrived in Istanbul Harry is shocked to learn that his daughter and her friend were not doing charity work but working as strippers in a nightclub. Determined to find her Harry is forced to face his own prejudices as he goes looking.

With a storyline which sees a father heading off to a foreign country to find his missing daughter "She's Gone" which is also known as "Disappeared" is similar to other movies including the more recent "Taken" especially with the British connection of Ray Winstone and Liam Neeson. But they are different movies with Winstone playing just an average guy, a self made man rather than a retired agent with a bag full of skills and tricks. Winstone also plays a man with prejudices which come to the fore when he arrives in Istanbul and as such has to deal with his issues.

Now I mention all this because if you watched "She's Gone" after reading the plot and thinking it was like "Taken" you are going to be disappointed. This isn't a fast paced action movie with a heroic father killing lots of people and using techno wizardry to find his daughter. Instead whilst we have Harry searching for his daughter the focus is as much on the things which confront him morally starting with learning that his daughter was stripping and went to Istanbul to do in order to have some time away from her domineering father. It makes it more of an interesting rather than entertaining movie which will frankly be too slow paced for many people and too demanding for others who expect everything to be served up on a plate rather than having to read between the lines to understand what is going on.

Never the less "She's Gone" not only features many recognizable British actors such as Lindsey Coulson and Gary Lucy but rests firmly on Ray Winstone's shoulders. And Winstone is on fine form here as the father conflicted by what he is confronted with on arriving in Istanbul when it comes to his daughter's life and the way things work in Hungary. But it is at times a very muted performance from Winstone which comes across because of director Adrian Shergold's styling which occasionally comes across as too intrusive and artsy.

What this all boils down to is that whilst "She's Gone" shares a storyline with the likes of "Taken" they are very different movies with this one focussing on the father being confronted by his own prejudices rather than on the action of him going after those who have his daughter and getting justice.


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