I can't believe there's only one thread for this movie! This is one of only five movies that have made me cry. What a great ending. A little unbelievable, sure, but just so perfect. Nelligan was outstanding in this movie. So realistic in the demise of her morale. Her facial expressions, her tone of voice. She was just wonderful. The music kills me at the end, very powerful.
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I think back to this movie, and I love Nelligan. She shows frustration, that the law isn't doing what it can to find her son.She has this great line, in the argument with Channing. Nelligan says "When I CAN"T TAKE IT ANYMORE", and she expresses her anger that people think she should "give up". It was great that Hirsch's character had this "inkling" to take Malvena's advice. He saved Alex and brought him home.
(spoiler ahead) Yeah I loved how Judd's sone keeps looking at the found boy...I bet he's thinking he's solved his first case as his dad's assistant!
sharehis rage when he shouts 'Where is Hank?' is genuine.
i jump when he says that
I agree...it's like all his anger and frustration from what ended up being the toughest, most draining and heartbreaking case of his career came to a head in that one moment. Great, GREAT acting and a great choice by whoever made it.
<his rage when he shouts 'Where is Hank?' is genuine.
i jump when he says that>
I must agree that the ending is very powerful.
shareI have always liked this movie. I was pretty young when I first saw it, so, for my brother and I, this movie has also been a bit of a running joke in our family...My mom always bawls at the end of this movie. We can even turn it on at the last 15 minutes or so, and she will still end up bawling on the couch. It really is a good movie, but I also like the other childhood memories that I have to go with it - as a kid, there is nothing more fun than messing with your parents :o)
shareYeah, what is really funny, is I first saw it before I even had children and I remember telling my cousin about the movie and I cried telling her and she cried just hearing me tell her about it. Either I was a great story teller, or the movie had that much of an impact to reach someone second hand. I am sure if I saw even the last 15 minutes of the movie, I would also end up bawling on the couch, especially now that I have children.
shareThis is absolutely the first and only memory I have of my Dad crying. The first I saw of this movie (as a child) was the very end with the police escort. I just remember it was after the disappearance of Adam Walsh and the media storm around missing children. I could not step five yards away from my parents while in public, then. Now, having seen this movie as a parent, I completely and wholeheartedly understand the raw emotion both portrayed in and resulting from this great movie. I have Adopted a new appreciation for this film and the "bawling parent" syndrome.
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I have not seen this movie in over 20 years, but after surfing the Imdb boards I came across Kate Nelligan who plays the mom . She is in the new Sandra Bullock flick. I believe this was/is based loosely on the Etan Patz kidnapping in N.Y.C in the 80's. I lived there then and it is an unsolved crime to this day. It is truly a sad film and as a mother it breaks my heart even more now. Why I want to watch it again is beyond me, except for Ms. Nelligan's performance.
RIP, j.m.l
chopper
Something kind of funny that I noticed about the young actor Danny Corkill who played Alex in the movie; I have only seen him in one other movie and that was DARYL, but both movies kind of ended the same way with him having an emotional reunion with someone and running to throw himself joyfully into their arms. I guess when he did the movie DARYL, someone had seen his final scene performance in Without a Trace and thought it might work again for pure tearjerk value :)
shareThanks for the info, Chopperbite. I just looked up Etan Patz on crimelibrary.com and they have full article on the case.
shareI remember seeing this movie on TV when my son who is now 23, was just a baby and I remember holding on to him for dear life, as if he would disappear. I can't watch it while my kids are in the room because they make fun of me when I cry at movies, and boy this one surely does it. As someone said earlier, it is the music building up at the end which is so powerful, the police escort, and the looks on the face of the mother and son, and when they finally embrace. This movie is one of the best tear jerkers ever.
shareSPOILER!
I remember seeing this movie at the theatre with my mother when I was 11. We both sobbed at the end. From Minelli's realization when he sees the "old blue car" to his emotional outburst "I said where is Hank!" to the sirens starting on their way back to the city, to Alex asking, "Am I under arrest?" I couldn't stop crying.
I think one of the most powerful moments comes when Minelli knocks on Susan's door late at night. She answers the door, and he just stands there. It was so heartwrenching. The look in his eye, such fantastic acting. Her reaction is of course spectacular.
Stockard Channing also plays a fantastic role as Susan's friend Jocelyn, I love the scene when Jocelyn confronts Susan about letting go and Susan tells her to go to hell (among other things).
I just got the DVD on NetFlix and watched it again. I cried like a woman! (No offense ladies, but you get my point.)
The score is also so powerful. I absoloutely loved the music, especially the end, blended into the sirens, finally ending in Brooklyn for the emotional reunion.
Kate Nelligan and Judd Hirsch did a fantastic job. I will always remember this film fondly.
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Count me in as a lover of this most under appreciated film. I worked at a theater that showed in first run back in 1983. For whatever reason this film performed poorly at the box office but anyone I recommended it to and saw it liked it. It is one of the few movies that makes me cry and this film makes me cry hard. I also hate to admit this but if I was just outside the theater doors when the music was playing and the sirens sounded for the final scene I would tear up without having to even see it. How Kate Nelligan and Judd Hirsch were not nominated (or how this film got no nominations) is beyond me.
shareI think this was a great movie too. I think it was based on the Etan Pates abduction case. Unfortunately he was never found. So it's troubling in that sense when I think about this movie.
shareI saw this movie this evening on the Fox Movie Channel. I remember watching this with my mom as a child. It really brings back memories of those days. I cried like a girl at the end.
shareI watched it on FMC last night for the first time in 25 years myself. I cried like a girl, too. The "Where is Hank!" scene...police escort...still very powerful. As a parent myself now, I also have a great appreciation for Kate Nelligan's performance. The frustration and pain of not knowing what has happened to your child would have to tear you apart. I can't even stand to think about it.
sharethis a good movie and yes it loosely base on Ethan Patz
D.H.F.F
Now end of day and Iam the Reaper:Silent hill
The part that gets me the most is when Det. Manneti pulls up and sees the blue car and whispers "Oh No", "Oh Jesus" and starts tearing up.
And when he yells "Where's Hank" makes me jump out of my seat.
The police escort, though a bit contrived, still starts the water works!!!
The piano music at the beginning and ending is, well yeah.....
"When people run in circles its a very very - Mad World"
I just saw Without A Trace tonight for the first time. I was channel surfing and I found this 30 minutes in and I was jumping for joy because I have wanted to see this movie for a while.
OH MY GOODNESS, it is soooo sad! How horrible would it be to have your child go missing and not know what has happened to them, I would just DIE! I'm not a mother yet(I'm only 19), but I have certainly had a hand in helping raise my much younger cousins. One of them I consider my daughter, I love her to bits, her mother died of cancer when she was only 7 months old, and they were living with us while her mum was sick so we could help take care of her mum, and her family, and I was her part-time mother, taking her for the whole day, and sometimes days at a time, when her father had to go to work, and her mother was extremely ill, and I continued to look after her a long time after her mother died until they moved back to nz. Anyways, I do have a strong maternal nature about me, and she is "my daughter", and I can definitely understand how you have to do all that's possible to ensure their well-being. And in horrible cases like that, try and find faith in it. I, with all my heart, hope I NEVER will have to experience anything as cruel as that!
Kate Nelligan was amazing, and so strong and beautiful, and just a true human being. I had tears at the ending, it was so wonderful!
!!!MEAN *MAORI* MEAN!!!
!!!!TINO RANGATIRATANGA!!!!
Wow I love how old this thread is. My son is 17, and I started watching this movie back in March or April I believe. Being familiar with the Etan Patz case, I didn’t think it would have a happy ending. So shortly after she had the argument with Stockard Channing’s character I stopped watching, unsure I’d be able to handle it. I just picked it back up today, months later in August. It took me a minute to realize why Judd’s character started tearing up when he saw the car, since it had been so long that I’d started the movie. Then I remembered and was like oh my god! Such a good ending, but sadly not one that truly happens very often. As happy as it was I wanted Judd’s character to apologize for them dropping the ball so badly. Though I’m sure the guilt ate at him.
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