Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 6, 1993 TAG: 9302060267
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
STRONG PERFORMANCES MAKE `THE VANISHING' A GOOD SCARE
Dutch director George Sluizer's first version of "The Vanishing," titled "Spoorloos," apparently has a die-hard band of enthusiasts. So much so that Sluizer was tapped to direct an American version, five years after the release of the original. In fact, the original is now on video shelves and on pay cable this month.I haven't seen the first one, so my frame of reference for this newest edition consists of other recent psycho-killer movies. In that context, this one is substantially superior to a good many. Sluizer is skilled at sustaining suspense. For the most part he plays fair, and he doesn't reveal his hand. What's more, he's working with a strong cast that responds well to the material.
Kiefer Sutherland plays Jeff Harriman, a writer vacationing with his girlfriend (Sandra Bullock) in the Pacific Northwest.
She disappears at a convenience store, and Jeff becomes a man possessed by both the trauma and the mystery. He has to know what happens, but all of his efforts are futile. The movie jumps ahead three years, and Jeff is a hollow-eyed wreck still trying to find a lead on the lost woman when he meets and becomes involved with Rita. Played with considerable spunk by Nancy Travis, she's a waitress who wants Jeff to think about her instead of the missing woman.
But Jeff's compulsion to know drives him beyond all else.
It's not revealing too much to acknowledge that Barney Cousins is the culprit - Sluizer and screenwriter Todd Graff let us know from the first - and Jeff Bridges gives him as creepy an interpretation as audiences could want. Bridges recently has played emotionally battered but decent guys. Here, he's a college professor with an apparently normal home life, who is determined to plumb the depths of evil. It's an unusual performance but one about as memorable as that of Robert De Niro in "Cape Fear," another good psycho-on-the-loose picture.
Sutherland and Travis hold their own, though. He's convincing in his anguish and she's both courageous and determined.
"The Vanishing" is a solid nail-biter with first-rate production values.
The Vanishing: ***. Twentieth Century-Fox picture at Salem Valley 8 (389-0004) and Valley View Mall 6 (362-8219). Rated R for language and violence; 110 min.