It has been more than three decades since Jake Neeley came home from Vietnam, haunted by lives lost under his command. He has lived a bleak existence ever since, sequestered deep in the woods of the Olympic rain forest. His only human contact is a feisty storekeeper, Kate, from whom he buys his weekly supplies.
All
of that is about to change.
Somehow, ex-soldier Henry Hocknell has found his
way to Jake's remote cabin, bringing with him his ten-year-old Amerasian
daughter, nicknamed "Lenny." When Hocknell vanishes overnight, Jake is beside
himself.
The last thing he wants or needs is a child -
a half-Vietnamese child at that - breaking into his secluded, quiet life.
But he has no choice. He has to take her in.
In the days that follow, Lenny's beguiling spirit
will penetrate Jake's defenses, evoking feelings - and unearthing secrets
- buried deep in his past. It will
lead the widowed Kate to see him in a startling new light. It will take
Jake further into the forest to encounter a ragtag group of "bush
vets," and a mutilated, menacing wraith known as Red.
It will culminate as a journey of healing.
Missing In America stars Danny Glover,
Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton, David Strathairn, and newcomer Zoë Weizenbaum
as Lenny. A co-production of Angel Devil Productions and Intrinsic Value,
it marks the feature film directing debut of award-winning multimedia
director Gabrielle Savage Dockterman.
Produced by Dockterman, Isen Robbins and Aimee
Schoof, Missing In America was written by Ken Miller, Dockterman,
and Nancy L. Babine, based on an original story by Miller. Music is by
Sheldon Mirowitz. The film was produced on location in Vancouver, British
Columbia, and Washington, D.C.
The story, says Ken Miller, was inspired by his
experience as a Green Beret and helicopter gunship pilot in Vietnam. One
harrowing mission remains vivid in his memory.
"As a flight team leader, I made a tactical
error," he recalls. "I approached our target from the wrong
direction and overflew a position where we'd been hit earlier with heavy
automatic weapons fire. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too
late. We were shot out of the sky."
Miller managed to crash land safely. "But
we were surrounded by North Vietnamese troops, trapped in a fierce firefight.
My wing man, Bob George, came to the rescue. He circled the area, firing
away to keep the enemy at bay, burning fuel until he was light enough
to land. Miraculously, he got us out of there without a single loss of
life."
For years afterward, says Miller, he was troubled by one question. "If any of my men had been killed, how would I have handled it? How could I have lived with myself?"
