The Missing Person

Plot summary

John Rosow (Michael Shannon) is an alcoholic private investigator. Suddenly Rosow is given the case of his life when he is hired to tail a man named Harold Fullmer (Frank Wood) on a train. Rosow soon discovers that Fullmer is one of the thousands presumed missing after 9/11, and that Fullmer has fashioned a new life for himself. As the film progresses, Rosow faces the moral decision to take Fullmer, unwilling, back to his wife in New York, or letting him remain in his fabricated life.

Cast

Reception and release

The film holds a 67% positive rating on the film-critics aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Buschel was nominated for the 2009 Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Director for his work on the film. According to Box Office Mojo, the film had grossed $48,895 as of March 2, 2010. It appeared on IFC.com's list of the ten best films of 2009, San Francisco Bay Guardian's list of the Top Three Films of 2009, and Variety critic Dennis Harvey's list of the Top 25 films of the year.