Kiefer Sutherland may be in the lead role but without a doubt The Vanishing is Jeff Bridges's movie.
Bridges plays a sinister, shy mad professor with such intensity and belief that all the other characters pale into insignificance in comparison. Sutherland, Sandra Bullock and Nancy Travis all come across as a bit dull.
The Vanishing is unusual in that while Jeff, the central character (played by Sutherland), knows nothing of why and how his girlfriend Diane went missing, we know exactly who did it from the start - Barney, played by Bridges. It makes it harder to emotionally invest in Jeff's search for her.
But what we don't know is what Barney did to Diane after he took her. So when Barney and Jeff finally meet, and this begins to be revealed, the movie shifts up several gears. It becomes an edge-of-the-seat thriller as the characters race against time to either kill or save each other.
This end sequence makes the movie a success.
Bridges plays a sinister, shy mad professor with such intensity and belief that all the other characters pale into insignificance in comparison. Sutherland, Sandra Bullock and Nancy Travis all come across as a bit dull.
The Vanishing is unusual in that while Jeff, the central character (played by Sutherland), knows nothing of why and how his girlfriend Diane went missing, we know exactly who did it from the start - Barney, played by Bridges. It makes it harder to emotionally invest in Jeff's search for her.
But what we don't know is what Barney did to Diane after he took her. So when Barney and Jeff finally meet, and this begins to be revealed, the movie shifts up several gears. It becomes an edge-of-the-seat thriller as the characters race against time to either kill or save each other.
This end sequence makes the movie a success.