The Vanished

Another In Memoriam

The movie yesterday was in memory of Olivia Newton-John. Today, we watched this movie in memory of another recently departed actor: Anne Heche.

My sister and I talked about both departures, and she recommended I watch this movie. A quick Google search showed me that Thomas Jane was also in this movie, so I was sold. But another actor caught my eye the second he was on the screen: the bearded police officer with a dark past.

Who plays the Sheriff in The Vanished?

I kept looking at his thick beard, troubled expressions, and dad-bod. I knew I knew him, but I couldn’t place him. Who was this handsome actor? I finally gave up and looked him up. It’s Jason Patric. But he looks so different!

I knew some time had passed since I first saw him in The Lost Boys. He was essential to my formative years as a young gay male. That whole movie was, actually. And now he was back on my screen, barely recognizable all these years later, and dare I say… as hot as ever?

I admit I was slightly disappointed when I read that he did not gain weight with age or even for the role. He just put on a fat pad. It was all part of the characterization of Sheriff Baker.

Regardless of the “movie magic” involved, his character was my favorite in the whole movie.

The plot

Let’s get back to the movie. The plot is a straightforward mystery: Wendy and Paul, played by Heche and Jane, go on vacation to this campground near a lake with their young daughter Taylor, where she mysteriously disappears as soon as they get there. Did she wander off? Did someone kidnap her? Did she drown? Where is she?

The local police get involved (enter Jason Patric), and we learn there’s an escaped felon on the loose in the area. That’s suspect #1. A couple is staying at an RV right next to the protagonists. Suspects #2. A weird kid with a face that screams guilty is suspect #3. And the creepy camp owner is suspect #4.

Things get out of hand fast. Really, really fast. On the first night, the couple sneaks out to search for their daughter against the sheriff’s orders. They run into Suspect #1, killing him in a scuffle. Now the grieving parents are also murderers. They freak out but decide not to tell anybody; it was a criminal, so his life didn’t matter much.

And that was only the first person they murdered in this movie.

I didn’t believe how quickly they got over killing someone, even after they found out the person they killed was not the escaped felon. Then they go and kill the couple next door, and I was really put off by how now they seem to just be okay with murder.

But in the end, it all made sense to me.

The climax

After all the murder and the drama, Wendy suspects the camp owner has something to hide behind a door in his office. She goes inside the cabin and discovers what we all knew from the beginning: the guy was a creep, into some pretty nasty stuff. Everything indicates he took the girl, and she’s probably now part of some child pornography ring. Gross. A fight ensues, and Wendy kills the creep. This was legit self-defense, so, hey, it’s alright.

But with the guy dead, how are they going to find Taylor?

The plot twist

Enter the plot twist. Paul convinces Wendy it’s time to let Taylor go, and they just throw all her stuff in the garbage. They are looking for closure. The plot twist is… Taylor was never with them in the first place! Sheriff Baker sees a photograph with a pregnant Wendy and the WTC in the background, so the dates don’t add up. It turns out the girl had died six years prior, and the couple had been living a fantasy, unable to move through the stages of grief.

So, all the murder for nothing, really. And here’s where things made sense to me: they were willing to live in this fantasy where their child never died. They were so used to lying to themselves that they were also okay with lying about murdering people.

The final scenes show Paul and Wendy back in their RV, reliving memories of Taylor, indicating that they’re back in their fantasy world.

What did you think?

Let me know in the comments below what you think about The Vanished!