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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A superb international thriller, August 29, 2001
One of the best international thrillers in the last ten years. Daniel Auteuil plays a French private investigator, now living in London because of a tragedy that killed his wife and daughter in Paris. He is summoned by a friend he knew in Paris, also now in London, who tells Auteuil's character that he has a job for him, which is to locate his wife's brother. The brother--the lost son of the title--is known for his drug excesses, and so it is not surprising that he would be missing. What is surprising is the chain of events that follows, taking Auteuil's character from London to Mexico and back, involving a prostitute, horrific child abuse, and corruption among the wealthy. Auteuil does a fine job as the P.I., Billie Whitelaw--one of my favorite British actresses--is suitably hard-edged in the role of the family matriarch, and Bruce Greenwood is credibly sleazy as the dealer in unspeakable practices. The investigator makes moral choices throughout the entire film that are so dead on target that every act of violence contributes to the power of this film. This is a terrific film and absolutely worth owning. I am proud to have this in my DVD collection.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice, Tight European Mystery/Thriller., February 8, 2003
This is a taut & suspenseful thriller/mystery from Europe that, while not breaking any new ground, offers enough odd touches and twists to make it one of the better entries in the genre. Set in London, the film stars Daniel Auteuil, the wonderfully versatile French actor in an English-speaking part, as a private detective with a past. Auteuil is gifted, and he makes you accept him as this troubled and haunted ex-policeman, with nicely shaded touches. He is complimented with an excellent supporting cast that includes Nastassia Kinski and other English & French veterans. The film has a sad and horrific story centering it's plot, (a story all too true, unfortunately), and moves along at a nice pace. It held my interest all the way. The violence in the film is dealt with brutally but with tactful swiftness, not dwelt on or exaggerated. The direction is by Chris Menges, the award-winning cinematographer, and he does a good crisp job here. Well produced, and well worth your time if you like the genre.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Harrowing, October 28, 2001
By A Customer
My score of only three stars is primarily because I found the end of the movie unrealistic. I am a die hard Daniel Auteiul fan (even if I can't spell his name hahaha) and I like the movie uh...well...Sorry, it's harrowing. It's very disturbing and I was sick for a week after viewing it. I decided that there are things that go on in the world that I am perfectly content to be ignorant about, and child prostitution/pornography are two of them-- don't get me wrong. I'll support any and all efficacious legislation to ban it and prosecute beyond the fullest extent of the law who produces or partakes in it, but I just...don't want to know the particulars. So this film gave a glimpse (probably based on real existing arrangements of how someone "high class" goes about renting children to feed his sexual desires) of that underworld, and well... It was too much for me, it made me cry. Is money really worth ANYTHING???
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