

When rancher and single mother of two Maggie Gilkeson sees her teenage daughter, Lily, kidnapped by Apache rebels, she reluctantly accepts the help of her estranged father, Samuel, in tracking down the kidnappers. Along the way, the two must learn to reconcile the past and work together if they are going to have any hope of getting Lily back before she is taken over the border and forced to become a prostitute.
Acting
Blanchett's raw desperation, Jones playing against his own myth.
Cinematography
New Mexico landscapes that swallow characters whole.
Direction
Howard ditches sentimentality for something genuinely unflinching.

Director
Ron Howard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Ron Howard's deliberate attempt to break from his crowd-pleasing reputation after A Beautiful Mind, and audiences largely rejected it.
The source novel 'The Last Ride' changed significantly—originally the father was already dead, making the reconciliation arc entirely Howard's addition.