Disappearances delightfully fudges the line between an old-fashioned boy's adventure tale and a distinctly adult postmodern Western.

| May 21, 2020

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.

| May 1, 2008

| Original Score: C- | Jun 16, 2007

There's a special Boy Scout charm to it all that I was enchanted with.

| Original Score: B- | Jun 8, 2007

The movie has a literary quality, and not just because everyone's always quoting Shakespeare.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 7, 2007

Labored, a bit of backwoods magical realism that wants to soar but never takes off.

| Original Score: C | Jun 6, 2007

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 14, 2007

Craven never quite manages to make it all seem a smoothly integrated piece.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 11, 2007

The beautifully photographed Disappearances is solidly old-fashioned entertainment.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 11, 2007

The film is lovely to look at, but makes not a lick of sense.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 11, 2007

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 10, 2007

Alas, the story descends into mystical mumbo jumbo.

| Original Score: 3/6 | May 10, 2007

Craven layers the film's central narrative concerns with mounds of metaphorical gunk, most of which proves more ponderous than entrancing.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 8, 2007

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.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 4, 2007

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.

| Apr 27, 2007

This scenic adventure is too fussy with metaphysical lore.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 27, 2007

Shot for only $1.7 million, but it's a thoroughly entertaining, first-class job in every way.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 26, 2007

The story might sound fine on paper, but it didn't quite work out that well when filmed.

| Original Score: C | Apr 14, 2007

An utterly earnest, likable enough family-focused action-adventure.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 2, 2007

A frontier spirit and a strong connection to the landscape inform the piece, which aims not to wow but to immerse the viewer in a mystical, hardscrabble, bygone world.

Full Review | Nov 14, 2006