Claudio Carvalho The veteran Vietnam lieutenant Jake Neeley (Danny Glover) lives alone in a cabin in the woods and his only contact with the civilization is through the owner of a small store, Kate (Linda Hamilton), who periodically supplies his provisions. The solitary Jake helps other lonely veterans that live in the forest giving them part of his supplies and receiving wood in return. When Jake is visited by the former private of his platoon Henry R. Hocknell (David Strathairn), who has lung cancer, Henry asks him to raise his Vietnamese daughter Lenny Hocknell (Zoë Weizenbaum). The widow Henry has no family and he will be subjected to a severe treatment of cancer. The reluctant Jake says no, but Henry leaves his daughter and vanishes. Along his contact with the young girl, Jake improves his behavior until a tragedy happens."Missing in America" is a sad story about losses and consequences of a war in the life of the survivors. Danny Glover and the débutant Zoë Weizenbaum have great performances in this tragic film. It is very impressive also the memorial wall in Washington shown in the end of the film, with thousands of names of soldiers that died in Vietnam. Considering that this percentage is very small when comparing with the deaths of Vietnamese (see Obs.), and recalling the deaths of Americans and Iraqi in the recent invasion, I guess what would be necessary to make people live in peace in the world and stop killing each other. Each one of these names has a family that misses the loss of the beloved relative. This movie also shows that the aftermath of a war leaves deep scars even in the survivors, losers or winners. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Cicatrizes da Guerra" ("Scars of the War")Obs: 1) "The Vietnam War cost the United States 58000 lives." (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm).2) "Documents declassified by the Vietnamese government in 1995, revealed that 5.1 million people, died during the Hanoi's conflict with the United States. Four million civilians died in both the North and South. Total military casualties were put at 1.1 million and 600,000 wounded. Hanoi concealed the figures during the war to avoid demoralizing the population." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War).

diesixdie I could go on about the various flaws of this movie. There are problems with the screenplay, obvious manipulation of the viewer's emotions, some predictable characterization and plot development, but never mind that.If I shove all that aside, I still find that I liked all of the major characters, and really cared about them. Danny Glover does a bang-up job. He has his character nailed, dead on. Zoe Weizenbaum is just downright stunning. Even if you're a misanthrope, like me, who can't stand children, you'll find yourself drawn in by her. Linda Hamilton, who we don't seem to see enough of, lately, plays a damaged, but likable storekeeper who pulls it all together. The actor who played "Red", even though he had no dialog, drew me into the horror of his past, in the scene at the cliff. For an instant I felt the pain of having his memories, which have left him twisted and isolated. Thankfully, only for an instant. I confess to having a few tears jerked by this movie. That doesn't happen often. I find the word "damaged" coming to mind a lot while thinking about this movie. It's true that life has a 100% fatality rate, and hardly anybody reaches their last moment undamaged. Some people, like those who got stuck with the job of being soldiers in Viet Nam, got a lot more damage then some of us luckier ones. This is a movie about damaged people, doing what they can for each other, even when most of society has abandoned them.I DO agree with a lot of the reviewers, here, that the ending unfolded in an unnecessary way. I can't say more without having to turn on the spoiler flag. I'm probably spoiled, myself, by the standard American cinema's penchant for "feel-good" happy endings, so don't you mind.Go rent this. See it on cable. It'll provoke a thought, evoke a tear, enrich Blockbuster by about a dollar-ninety-nine and bring you 102 minutes closer to your last moment. A little better for it, maybe?

jjnc Very moving film! My wife cried at the sad death scene, but the part that really moved me was the ending scene at the Wall. I'm five years older than she is, and grew up in the Vietnam era. I think that is why different parts of the film affected us differently. I knew people who are listed on the wall, and have been to it a few times. I am always awed by the sight of it, even more so than visiting the WTC site.I think the writing was very poignant, and it had to be written by someone who experienced it.I'd recommend it to anyone from ages 35 and up, others just won't understand.

oldgrumny1 Being a Viet Nam veteran myself I can relate to this movie. There is so much told in this movie and how there are so many veterans still carrying the scars of Viet Nam. The acting by Danny Glover was exceptional. This was a great movie very similar to "An Unfinished Life" were these kinds of movies provide a powerful moral message. It is a shame that our population do not find that these types of movies are entertaining. A good family movie for all to watch. This movie also provides another very powerful message and one that is ignored by our government. When our veterans returned from Viet Nam our government assumed that they would just adjust and blend back into society. This was not the case as shown in this movie. The same applies today with our sons and daughters returning from Iraq. Danny Glover is a very good actor and supported by Linda Hamilton made the movie stronger. The young girl really tugged at the heartstrings.