English writer/director Niall Johnson has assembled a multinational cast for a film that's an awkward mix of True Grit and Gone Baby Gone. Unfortunately, it lacks the spunk and gravity of either.
Set at the time of Otago's goldrush, The Stolen tells a story of prosperity and loss against the backdrop of New Zealand's wild and beautiful frontier.
Charlotte (Alice Eve) and her husband are a wealthy couple fresh off the boat from Oxfordshire, looking to make a new life for themselves in New Zealand. When her husband is killed and her baby kidnapped after a botched robbery, Charlotte takes the law into her own hands and sets out to find her missing child.
The film presents itself as a bold and punchy tale set among the grime and dirt of prostitutes and gold diggers. However, the tame treatment renders it quite the opposite and it lacks the unbridled confidence to get down-and-dirty with its subject matter.
Charlotte's desperation becomes a poorly drawn "don't get between a mother bear and her cub" trope and it'll have you wondering if the robbers stole the script along with the baby.
