GONE

Photos provided by Lakeshore Entertainment

Amanda Seyfried battles her own fears while attempting to save her sister’s life in the thriller GONE.  

Seyfried is Jill, a young woman who was abducted and now lives with her sister in the suburbs of Oregon.  After working third shift at a downtown diner, Jill returns home to find her sister Molly missing.  Jill immediately seeks help from the local authorities, but following her own mysterious abduction, the police aren’t convinced that Jill is telling them the truth.  Jill, fearful that her sister’s life is in the balance, decides to take matters into her own hands.

 

GONE is a generic one world title, and yet it so aptly describes many aspects of this wannabe thriller.  Gone is the lead character’s sister, gone is Jill’s apparent sanity, gone is screenwriter Allison Burnett’s knack for dialogue, gone is any real suspense, intrigue or mystery, gone is any credible or half-way intelligent character.

What remains from this occasionally, unintentionally funny farce are a modern-day, flimsy female Sherlock Holmes, a collection of keystone cops and an astonishingly embarrassing performance from AMERICAN BEAUTY grad Wes Bentley.  As bad as Bentley is as rookie detective Peter Hood, I must say that his forehead and eyebrows had more personality than the rest of his fellow detectives combined.  The top-half of Bentley’s head and the creepy confines of Forrest Park in the deep woods of Oregon create what little excitement exists in this humdrum thriller from director Heitor Dhalia.  

Seyfried who has shown promise in such films as LETTERS FROM JULIET and DEAR JOHN, is slumming again in the forest, with an opening scene reminiscent of last year’s unintended comedy RED RIDING HOOD.  GONE isn’t quite as bad, but only because I believe the creators were somewhat cognizant of the crud they were creating.

Grade: D