Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Gone

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for violence and terror, some sexual material, brief language and drug references.

Reviewed by: Thaisha Geiger
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Teens Adults
Genre: Suspense Crime Thriller
Length: 1 hr. 25 min.
Year of Release: 2012
USA Release: February 24, 2012 (wide—2,000+ theaters)
DVD: May 29, 2012
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Relevant Issues
Copyright, Summit Entertainment

sudden disappearance of family member

serial killer

kidnapping

defending loved one

Featuring Amanda SeyfriedJill
Daniel Sunjata … Powers
Jennifer CarpenterSharon Ames
Sebastian StanBilly
Wes Bentley … Peter Hood
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Director Heitor Dhalia
Producer Lakeshore Entertainment
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
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Distributor

“No one believes her. Nothing will stop her.”

The cops and nearly everyone else had written off Jill (Amanda Seyfried) as a hallucinating, mentally unstable young woman. After all, she claimed to be kidnapped by an unknown man and placed in a deep hole somewhere in the forest. After the police found no forced entry or even a suspect, they had Jill involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.

Despite the ridicule, Jill remains adamant about her abduction and conducts her own investigation through forest searches and cataloging all reported missing females as potential victims of her abductor.

When returning home from work, Jill finds her sister gone. She immediately suspects that her kidnapper has returned to seek vengeance. After rushing to the police, they brush aside Jill’s concerns, as always. Believing her sister to be in grave danger, Jill begins her own desperate search.

I’m a big fan of thrillers, but this one didn’t really hold much suspense. At times, I found it rather boring and, at times, far-fetched. Essentially, Jill goes on an easy scavenger hunt that any rookie cop should have figured out. Ignorantly, however, the cops never question the witnesses Jill herself interrogates. They simply pass her off as some nutcase, since they weren’t able to find evidence within the vast expanse of the forest to verify her account.

With that said, I did find some enjoyment in the film. Jill is determined to find her sister, even though all the odds are against her. She isn’t a weepy heroine and goes straight into the mouth of danger, never once questioning her own safety. She sticks to her version of the truth, even when people pass her off as crazy. This is a nice change from the common female caricatures in recent suspense thrillers.

This reminded me of what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15. God gave us the truth within His word; it’s the truth, and it’s the Christian’s job to be diligent and present the holy truth always, regardless of whether or not people laugh, mock, or outright deny our claims about Jesus being the Son of God. The verse reads:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Objectionable Content

The foul language is around the 17 mark: 6 sh_t, 4 b_tch, 2 as_, 2 hells, 1 d_mn, 1 GD and 1 f_ck. There’s a brief conversation about “banging” one’s sister.

Jill is a compulsive liar. She makes up different stories with each person she encounters along the search for her sister.

When wanting answers, Jill does threaten some people with a gun. She shoots one man several times and later pours kerosene on him. Afterward, she throws a lantern on him, causing him to be engulfed in flames. In the beginning of the movie, Jill takes a self-defense class. A comment from her opponent makes her snap, and she repeatedly punches him. During a flashback, Jill snaps a bone from a decomposed body, and stabs someone. This is done in the dark, and not much is seen. A decomposed body is shown in a sitting position.

There is a limited amount of sexual content in the film. While Jill is taking a shower, one can see her nude form through the translucent shower curtain. Believing she tracked down her sister’s kidnapper, Jill barges in the suspect’s room and finds another man lying in bed.

I don’t personally recommend the film. Though I found the film a bit lacking, it does have a decent pace and ends just shy of the eighty-seven minute mark. If you decide to see it, I suggest waiting for it to be released in DVD.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Mild

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—I really enjoyed the movie and did not figure out the ending. It had some offensive words, but really did not notice much. No sex or nudity, unless you count trying to look through a shower curtain. The suspense was very good, and, yes, there were many leaps of imagine you need to take, but hey, this is a suspense thriller. I was very pleased.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Rick Davis, age 60 (USA)
Positive—“Gone” is a guilty pleasure. While this film is by no means a brilliantly made film and I will probably forget it as times goes by it is also by no means a bad film. Amanda Seyfried is always interesting to watch and I enjoyed the way her character improvises and alludes the police and how the police pursue her since there is an extra element involving her mental illness.

In “Gone,” the police actively pursue her since she is quite possibly dangerous to innocent people they don’t just push her aside as a nutjob as in lesser films. Her lies are interesting(not that I condone lying) as she knows if she tells these strangers the truth they will dismiss her as crazy and time is running out on her sister. She lies to sound more believable (interesting irony). The people she encounters are oddballs, which ironically makes them more interesting, there are some good camera shots and angles, and some good suspense-“Gone” is rarely boring.

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My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Andrew, age 36 (USA)
Comments from young people
Positive—I really liked this movie. It’s a little scary, for a number of reasons. One of them being the main character’s flashbacks, so I wouldn’t recommend this movie to children under 13. It’s also scary because in a number of scenes, she is at risk of being caught for looking through others personal belongings. One of the reasons I really like this movie is because I love how brave the main character is and fearless.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Jillian, age 13 (Canada)

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