The Vanishing - 1993
The Vanishing joins the long line of films featuring answering machines which apparently have magical powers. Besides being outdated, since when can you call into a number and hear what’s happening in the room AT THAT TIME?
This is an interesting choice - George Sluizer adapting his OWN 1988 Dutch thriller in English five years later. Where the original is a slow burn, arty masterwork, this plugs into the dopey overacting and paint-by-numbers screenwriting of so many of its American brethren at the time.
Even so, it is not without its charms. The usually sure Jeff Bridges is making a real, mmm choice, with the accent and hair play here. I don’t hate it, but I kinda do. The collateral damage is it turns the faux seriousness into high camp. Pre-Speed Sandy is a welcome if surprising sight. We’re granted flashes of the starlet she’d become, even if she’s not given much to work with here.
But this one really belongs to Nancy Travis. Here is really her whole toolbox. The quiet strength, the searing eyes, the girl next door charm, and the way things come off the rails a bit when she’s overemoting. (Again, I’m hanging some of that on the screenwriters). In any case, 90’s era Travis is a real gem.
If you want the salacious inanity of a potboiling thriller, look no further. On the other hand, if unorthodox love stories and artfully rendered obsession is your bag, I’d highly recommend the original.
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