If you have children, or if you are attached to a niece or
nephew, then PRISONERS will make you quake in your boots from start to finish. It
takes the most terrifying idea that a parent has, your child being abducted,
and tosses it about in a fashion unseen before on screen. Is that a good thing?
Yes.
The film opens with two families living in the same
neighborhood getting together for Thanksgiving. One is Keller and Grace Dover
(Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello), the other Franklin and Nancy Birch (Terence
Howard and Viola Davis). After dinner the Dover's daughter wants to run home
with the Birch's daughter to look for a whistle she can't find. Terror soon
follows.
The two girls can't be found and the older kids they were
supposed to ask go with them never knew that they left. From an earlier walk
Dover's son remembered an RV parked down the road that his sister tried to
climb. A manhunt follows with everyone searching for the girls and that RV.
As it so happens Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhall) gets the
call about a sighting of the RV. He gets to the scene only to have the driver
speed into a tree and then be captured. What they find is a young man named
Alex Jones (Paul Dano) with some mental issues who either can't or won't answer
their questions. Keller can't believe the police are as helpless as he is when
it comes to finding answers and holds them accountable.
The search continues and eventually Jones is released.
Keller confronts him in the parking lot and Jones whispers something to him
that makes Keller believe he knows what happened to the girls. Intent on
finding his daughter, even if the police have their hands tied with legalities,
Keller kidnaps Jones and takes him to an abandoned apartment building he owns.
With the reluctant help of Franklin he systematically tortures Jones to get
information. It's brutal but not over done considering what's on the screen
these days.
As Keller seeks information his way Det. Loki follows clues
of his own. With a record of solving every case he's been assigned he doggedly
pursues each lead that comes his way. Some go nowhere but a few turn up a
suspect other than Jones, one who turns up at a candle light vigil for the two
girls and who escapes Loki when he pursues him on foot. This doesn't stop him
from continuing his search as well as his looking at Keller as a possible
suspect as well.
Do they find the girls? Are they still alive? And just who
really kidnapped them if anyone? If you want to know what happens rent or buy
the movie, don't expect me to give it away. The twists and turns in this plot
bounce back and forth more than Mullholland Drive if it were ice covered and
foggy. The movie does a great job of making you think one way then convincing
you that you should look another only to toss in a third concept before making
you think you were right to begin with. Got that? Well that's the sort of back
and forth I'm talking about. In the end everything fits in place and the result
is an ending that makes sense. I won't say you'll be happy with it, but it
makes sense.
As seems to be the case with many films these days there
isn't a bad performance on screen here. Jackman and Gyllenhall take center
stage when it comes to outstanding performances, both exercising their acting
muscles by playing parts different than we've seen them in before. Howard is
given far too small a part to play here but does it well. Bello and Davis feel
more like supporting roles than leads here and that's a shame. Dano once more
plays that misunderstood character and does a fine job.
Don't let the 153 minute length scare you away. Time flies
when you're watching this one and there isn't a boring moment. And when you get
to the last 30-40 minutes you'll be wringing your hands waiting to see what
happens next. This one is worth watching.
Click here to order.
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