"Missing You," available on HuraWatch Free Movies, tells the story of a woman who has been lied to in ludicrous ways by almost everyone in her life. With every other scene, a new secret is revealed, drawing the protagonist into more and more complicated, more and more ridiculous situations in order to keep her in the dark as much as possible. To be honest, she's a pretty terrible detective, considering how much she doesn't know about the people around her. The only thing that can save a truly terrible crime movie is the cast, who manage to somehow elevate it without falling victim to the plot. Fans of the prolific and popular Harlan Coben and the talented cast may not care. But as a whole, it barely makes sense, and worse, it falls victim to the Netflix miniseries machine that demands over-explanation, repetition, and twists at every turn. The first week of the new year might keep you busy thinking about resolutions, but that doesn't make you feel any better. Even if you're not familiar with Mr. Corben's work, you've likely seen at least one of the many Netflix adaptations of his enchanting novels. They're a staple in airport bookstores and anywhere people congregate looking for something to kill time. (This is no insult; I love "beach books" as much as anyone else. Just a statement of fact.) His industry of hidden secrets relies on characters who've spent most of their lives in the dark, resulting in the death of a long-misunderstood loved one. Other Netflix miniseries based on Corben novels include "Fool Me Once," "Stay Close," "The Stranger" and, perhaps the best of the bunch, "Safe." Based on the 2014 novel (which, believe it or not, uses a John Waite song as a plot point), "Missing You" stars "Slow Horses" excellent Rosalind Eleazar in the role of Kat Donovan, a truly thankless detective whose fiancé vanished more than a decade ago, shortly after the death of her father, who was also a police officer. When the mysterious Josh literally disappears from the scene, Donovan assumes she's just been genuinely ignored by a totally stupid guy, until she finds Josh on a dating app and embarks on a path of increasingly implausible twists and turns.
While the starting point of "Missing You" is a strong hook, and sometimes that's all you need for a mystery miniseries (or a beach read), this project strays so far from its origins that it starts to forget its original premise. First, Kat starts to question the story surrounding her father's death and wonders if Josh's disappearance (and reappearance) has something to do with it. Then she meets a young man who claims that his mother was with Josh in the present, but that his mother also disappeared. Donovan is also working another missing persons case, which of course relates to all of the above. And as if that wasn't enough, the excellent James Nesbitt shows up to add a bit of drama as a crime boss who may have ties to Kat's father (he has few scenes, but gives the best performance so far of the series). Everyone in Kat's life - her mother, friends, coworkers - knows the key evidence that links to Josh, Kat's father, or both. Guilty fun is fine (i.e., see my Carry-On review), but it shouldn't be an insult to intelligence. It doesn't help that the insult is dragged out for five hours and constantly repeated and emphasized in a Netflix-esque way. There was just talk about how Netflix requires writers to repeat storylines or explicitly specify action, so viewers can only half-focus while listening while doing other things around the house or playing games on their smartphones. "Missing You" happens when someone actively creates a background that distracts them from their creative endeavors. This happens when plot takes precedence over characters and logic, and you end up missing something you didn't see.
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