Go for Sisters

I’m always down for a John Sayles film, but he does make his share of stank movies. Unfortunately, this would be one of the stank ones, a missing person movie that plays like a stale CSI episode (actually, more like Miami Vice, since they’ve dragged out Edward James Olmos for this one). Lisa Gay Hamilton is OK as a parole officer who can’t find her son, but Olmos is infuriating as the old retired cop who helps her (every … sentence … he … delivers … takes … forever). Equally flat would be Yolanda Ross as a former friend who helps her with her “street smarts.” There’s nothing that feels original here, with many of the scenes having that awkward vibe of people simply not knowing what they are doing. There’s also the unwelcomed presence of too many stereotypes. Too bad, because when the Sayles formula is working, it makes for good cinema (Eight Men Out, Lone Star, Limbo). He’s lost his edge with this one, a movie more suitable for a cable TV run than the big screen.