Film Review: Avenging Pursuit Motivates Amanda Seyfried in ‘Gone’

CHICAGO – The premise of “Gone” is a beguiling notion. What if the victim of a traumatic crime can’t get authorities to believe her? The evidence doesn’t add up, there are no physical signs of struggle and no crime scene is found. Amanda Seyfried plays such a victim, and her very sanity is questioned.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The film is fast-paced, with a probable improbability that works because the screenplay and direction is tight as a drum. Whether or not Seyfried’s character is to be believed, there is a rooting interest in her, simply because she has an obsession for justice that is more fiery than the all other “protection” institutions. There is also a larger symbolic nature to the crime and punishment, as the males in the film are hapless or skeptical, while the main character get better results fending for herself.

Seyfried portrays Jill, a tense resident of Portland, Oregon. She lives with her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) in a residential neighborhood. Jill is obsessed with a dark incident that is alluded to in flashbacks. She remembers a nighttime abduction, a journey to a nearby forest reserve, where hikers found her dirty and disheveled. The police conducted a futile search, and Jill’s unreasonable insistence that the crime occurred gets her some mental institution time, as well as a prescription for psychotropic meds.

Her paranoia goes to a new level when sister Molly turns up missing, and Portland police detectives Bozeman (Michael Paré) and Powers (Daniel Sunjata) won’t kowtow to her pleas for investigation. Molly’s boyfriend Billy (Sebastian Stan) and police insider Hood (Wes Bentley) could help or hinder the cold case, so Jill strikes out on her own. She has one day of daylight to figure the identity of her assumed assailant and save her own sister.

“Gone” opens everywhere February 24th. Featuring Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Sunjata, Emily Wickersham, Wes Bentley, Jennifer Carpenter, Sebastian Stan and Michael Paré. Screenplay by Allison Burnett. Directed by Heitor Dhalia. Rated “PG-13”