The Mission | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

Even with lulls, it’s impossible to disregard the music, which is not only a factor of communication between the disparate peoples (and a point of humanization), but also a stirring, striking link between major components of the story.

“De Niro is such an intuitive and impulsive performer, and what I think Roland Joffé gets out of him in this performance ... is restraining those impulses and … fury.”

But the sum of these parts is a formless ramble. Any interesting ideas get lost and director Roland Joffe's poor judgement in having real screaming babies piled up in mud and rain is a misstep that wipes out any goodwill toward the snail's pace story.

Despite Strong and De Niro conquering the film as a two-hander, the remaining cast does not live up to The Mission's leads.