Director Denis Villeneuve makes his claim to big screen fame with his new Crime/ Drama/ Thriller “Prisoners.”
It’s Thanksgiving and the Dovers are joining their friends, the Birchs, for a celebratory dinner. The parents are drinking and having a good time, and the older children from each family are enjoying some television. But where are the two youngest children, Joy and Ana? After searching in the pouring rain for the girls, fathers Keller and Franklin conclude that the girls are no where to be found and contact local authorities. The Dovers and Birchs form a relationship with Detective Loki (Jake Gylennhaal), the departments finest to begin the search of the children. The entire movie takes place over the time span of 7 days.
I give “Prisoners” 3 out of 5 NorthStars. It is an entertaining drama that edges between the horror and thriller. For me, the thrilling moments were masked by the length and repetition of certain elements of the film. After a certain amount of time, I thought to myself, “maybe I should walk out.”
Aside from the length and poor editing of the movie, the filming was great. While viewing I kept telling myself to look for the typical, poorly shot, handy cam scenes. I didn’t spot one. Director of Photography Roger Deakins did a nice job using wide angle shots for chase scenes instead of a camera man running along side the culprit in turn capturing moments that are sometimes impossible to follow.
The film’s hero, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), becomes a crazed kidnapper and torturer which makes it hard for the viewer to feel any pity for him or to identify with him when he changes from a man helping his loved ones to a crazy person trying to make himself feel better. On the other hand, writer Aaron Guzikowski may have used Dover’s change in heart as a device to show that people attempt insane initiatives in hard situations because they are so blind to what is right and wrong.
I wouldn’t call this film a must see, but it is filled with plot twists, darkness, and empathy. To learn more about “Prisoners” you can visit the following link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392214/, or go and see it yourself!
