Debuting at the United Nations last week, “Trade” is a small film with a big mission. Kevin Kline anchors the story with his performance as Ray, a Texas policeman caught up in tracking down a network of internationals involved in the trafficking of children into sex slavery. Kline, along with German filmmaker Marco Kreuzpaintner, hope the indie film will raise awareness of this largely unknown issue, some of which actually takes place within U.S. borders.

Try as the film might, however, “Trade” falls a bit short in trying to shock audiences into attention, instead lulling them into impatience at the excessive transparent melodrama, ironically creating a sense of haste, which parallels that of the movie but for far different reasons – the characters want to race to save the girl, the audience wants to race to the end so that the movie will be over.

“Trade” strangely feels a bit like “Maria Full of Grace,” the 2004 indie that centered on poor immigrants smuggling drugs into the U.S., largely by way of swallowing drug-filled balloons. The comparison only goes so far in that both films highlight a sickening issue that is not top-of-mind, or even adjacent to our daily thoughts. “Grace,” with its tragic simplicity and unpretentious drama, however, exceeds in every way “Trade” wishes it could.

That is not to say the film is without any redeeming qualities. Indeed, there is much to like about “Trade,” especially Mexican/Polish signer/actress Alicja Bachleda-Curus, who plays Veronica, the eldest of the kidnapped group. Alicja and director Marco worked together on a previous film, “Summer Storm,” but “Trade” is by far their most U.S.-centric work.

Veronica, along with 13-year-old Adriana (Paulina Gaitan) are abducted in Mexico City, and with about five other children, are haphazardly transported across the border with the aim of getting all the way to New Jersey, where the more business-minded side of the operation resides. Once the children arrive in the North, they are then sold off to the highest bidder, in absurd eBay-like fashion.

Jorge (Cesar Ramos) plays Adriana’s 17-year-old brother who inventively tracks the caravan starting in Mexico City, meeting up with Kline’s character, Ray, who is also investigating human traffickers in the area. The near half of the movie that is spent on Ray and Jorge as they bond and travel across the country, really, is where the film falls down. Of course, you see the relationship-building coming, but it’s simply sloppy, boring and tedious. And, naturally, there’s the cultural divide that tries for cliché laughs, Jorge’s character pocking fun at Ray’s old, American ways. Kline seems almost sedate in much of these scenes, never really breaking out like you expect him to, being the veritable tagline (and credibility) of the movie. If that wasn’t problem enough, the two proceed through some truly trivial moments that are only weak attempts to heighten drama and suspense.

The better half of “Trade,” however, follows kidnapped Veronica and Adriana through some positively disturbing situations, giving the film some bit of redemption. Marco does a good job, at times, conveying a dark sense of helplessness and fear, largely by way of Veronica, who is beaten, raped, and abused.

Alicja clearly takes a step up in her acting career, both physically and emotionally, playing the young adult captive. Her ability to simultaneously convey strength and fear is riveting. And, in fact, the most gripping moment of the film comes when Alicja executes that tricky emotional duplicity perfectly. Like the eye of a hurricane, Veronica comes to a point of emotional stillness in one scene, turning to her captor and stating quietly with all her resolve and broken English, “You pay for this…I make sure.” The scene is near perfect.

Unfortunately, such powerful, genuine moments are severely lacking in what is meant to be a stirring sociopolitical look at a truly horrible type of crime. Ironically, what makes films that deal with such emotional issues great is letting those issues carry the movie in as natural and subtle a way as possible, not accessorizing with artificial drama.

“Trade” makes this regrettable mistake, shunning the old adage that “less is more.” Despite its many shortfalls, “Trade” is still a movie worth seeing, because unlike much of Hollywood’s output nowadays, “Trade” actually has something important to say.