Prisoners

With a catchy and ambiguous title that takes on more meaning the more you think about it and the deeper you go, Prisoners is a heart-wrenching, manipulative child abduction story with a twist. It's as original as anything that's come out lately, and is full of suspense, thrills, and classic cinematic sequences devoid of dialogue with just the score to keep you on the edge of your seat. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his wife, Grace (Maria Bello) are enjoying a picturesque Thanksgiving afternoon with their neighbors, Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) and his wife, Nancy (Viola Davis) when their two little girls go missing during a walk between houses. The disappearance puts the families and the town into a panic, and Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) begins his work to put the pieces together before it's too late. And after a series of red herrings, close calls, and suspenseful events transpire, we discover that the little girls aren't in fact the only prisoners in that sleepy Pennsylvania town.

It's a bold move by Warner Brothers and Denis Villaneuve (2010's Incendies). The subject of this film teeters on socially unpalatable as if suspended above Niagara Falls on a tightrope. It devolves into such a dark place, and leaves the viewer both filled with hope, and utterly enraged and powerless. It's a shock to me that it has received both the box office results and the critical acclaim that it has, because it has such potential to be polarizing. It's an A-list cast and a Tarantino spawned story (not really, but could be), but somehow Villaneuve makes it toe the line just this side of appropriate, even with the blood, death, and sheer vile subject matter.

Villaneuve is brilliant in his choice of camera angle, and use of setting to grow and shrink the characters. Watching the icy rain fall, I was riveted to my chair, shivering not knowing if it was nerves or temperature. It's very rare and infrequent that a director can make the climate seem so much a part of the cast of characters, and I may use this reference again, but I felt a lot like the first time I saw Se7en (1995). Prisoners is not of course, quite as gruesome and visceral. It's more of a cerebral game of cat and mouse, and the director was wise to manipulatively leave various pieces of the story to the imagination.

Jackman plays one of the fathers in an intensifying crescendo while Howard plays the other with a lackluster, emotionally deflating subtlety. They complement each other as two men sharing a pain, clearly reacting in different ways as men do, but I couldn't ever get behind Jackman's unyielding aggression. The women are kept mostly in the background, although Viola Davis is given a few powerful scenes in which a few contrived tears are shed. If I'm making one criticism, it's that Jackman is over exposed, and therefore not believable in the every-man's role. He's Jean Valjean or Wolverine, but he's not convincing as anyone in between. It's not his fault, and he's clearly a fantastic actor, but I kept waiting for those Adamantium claws to extend out of his knuckles every time he raised his fist in rage.

Paul Dano is in spectacularly creepy mode as the prime suspect who happens to have the intellect of a ten year old. His high pitched voice and terrified movements add to the suspense, and he continues to prove that he is a terrific actor, despite his unconventional look. If you haven't seen him before, check out There Will be Blood in his dual role as the Sunday brothers. He's next up in 12 Years a Slave in what is certain to be a memorable role. Anyhow, he nails the part. Builds suspense with every silent moment, and unflinchingly captivates the audience.

Jake Gyllenhaal is the other piece of the puzzle, and for my money, he gets a Best Supporting Actor nomination. He portrays Detective Loki without any fanfare, background, or build up. You immediately get a sense of who he is as a cop, and there is no trickery, no typical back story about a man with a shady past. There's no case that broke him, no secret drug addiction, no corruption, and no bravado. Just a cop with a sharp mind who desperately wants to find the girls. It must have been a difficult role to get into, but he shows the confidence of a true thespian, even adopting a nervous tick that adds more to the role than I can say. It's the little details that make an actor memorable, and his performance was certainly that. Loki works around the clock, turning over every possible lead despite the uncooperative brass back at the precinct. Jake Gyllenhaal is building a resume that is difficult to overlook. He's choosing roles that fall all around the cinematic tree, and he consistently comes through.

At nearly two and a half hours, Prisoners seems almost epic. It is in fact, with acts that drag out leading from one thoroughly explored corner to another. The best way to describe it is thorough, but I never got bored. It keeps the audience's attention by always rearing the ugly truth back into the picture just when things seem to slow down, and the anticipation of finding out what happened makes all of the slow moments well worth it. With about twenty minutes to go, the facts fall into place and the audience is given a glimpse beyond even that of the actors, and the fun is watching them catch up. The ending is unexpected, although I wouldn't necessarily put it in the shock/twist category. Instead, it is pleasantly surprising. Much the way I felt about last year's Looper, I felt about Prisoners. I intentionally didn't read the spoilers, and found myself very satisfied, even with the Sopranos-inspired ending.

The film's screenplay was written by Aaron Guzikowski, who's new to the business. He wrote the terrible Contraband (2012) and has a TV series called The Red Road coming out next year. He's got talent, that is for sure and I won't hold Contraband against him at all. Prisoners is sharp, fresh, and just dark enough to be jarring without leaving nightmares. It's one of the best films I've seen this year so far, but unfortunately, that won't hold up in mid-September. The good ones are coming out soon. Next week: Rush and Gravity.

Go see Prisoners if you have the stomach. It's intense and brutal, but incredibly well done and will keep you glued to your seat. Definitely not for everyone, but worth the price of admission. 8/10.