MARK ADAMS at the movies: COWGIRL CATE'S FAMILY BLUES

THE MISSING (15)

THE STARS: Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, Eric Schweig, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd, Steve Reevis.

THE STORY: In New Mexico in 1885, Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) lives with her two daughters Lily (Wood) and Dot (Boyd) and rancher lover (played by Aaron Eckhart), and is angry rather than happy when her long-lost father Samuel (Jones) arrives after having lived with the Chiricahua tribe for years.

When Lily is kidnapped by a gang led by an Indian witch (Schweig), Maggie, Dot and her father head off to search for them and attempt a dramatic rescue to get her back

WHAT'S GOOD? Cate Blanchett is wonderful as the tough but tender Maggie, who is gradually won over by the compassion and determination of her estranged father. Lee Jones is as craggy and grizzled as ever, but he is now the \ consummate character actor and brings presence and power to his role. The film is an odd blend of old-fashioned adventure and spooky Western gothic, with Blanchett a great cowboy movie heroine.

WHAT'S BAD? There is a lot of impressive window dressing - spooky Indian kidnapper, nasty killings, dodgy soldiers, stoic mother, wacko father etc.

But in the end it's an old- fashioned goodies versus baddies romp, with the obligatory shoot-out on top of a mountain, featuring the expected tussle by the edge of a cliff. Also, little Dot becomes an irritating moppet who should have been left back at the ranch!

HOW LONG IS IT? A hefty 137 mins.

FINAL VERDICT: Old-fashioned Western adventure.

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