Disappearances

Regional filmmaker Jay Craven's adaptation of Howard Frank Mosher's Prohibition-era adventure story with magical-realist flourishes is an impressive achievement: Less than $2 million has rarely bought such narrative sweep and handsome locations. But the mix of rollicking, family-friendly action and backwoods mysticism is odd, as is the story's progress from larky escapades to increasingly grim consequences, and Craven never quite manages to make it all seem a smoothly integrated piece.

Kingdom County, Vermont, 1932: Once upon a time, Quebec Bill Bonhomme (Kris Kristofferson) was a raffish bootlegger like his father and grandfather, both of whom vanished wh...