Missing Persons

Running time: N/A

World Premiere Electrical engineers turned filmmakers, Matt and Dan O'Donnell, transform this multi-character story into a surreal adventure in their 3-D animated feature, Missing Persons - a fascinating journey through the lives of four lost souls who are intertwined by the investigation of a half-drowned man living one foot beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Grizzled NYPD detective, John Funn, hooks up with the mumbling Officer Snookie, as they traverse a New York filled with street fighting drug vendors who have a bad habit of surviving shotgun blasts. Computo is a World War II army surplus robot looking to find his productive place in society despite his rap-sheet filled resume. Along with his friend and partner, Crazy Legs (himself struggling to make it through each day), Computo ekes out a desperate living hawking mislabeled narcotics while patiently awaiting happier times. Wry wit is the name of the game here as the criminal justice system, courtroom dramas, and police bureaucrats are skewered equally. Developing their own animation software for the film, the O'Donnell twins expand the tale of Funn and Snookie from their animated short, Officer Down, and pack an uncompromising punch in a tale of misplaced individuals. You may get smacked around a little, but you'll have to come up with your own reason why. Reviewed by John Ignowski and Al Owens