No matter how good you think you know yourself, there will always be unexpected situations which can bring out a side you did not know you had in you. In those situations you might act strictly on instinct, forgetting about the rules of society. In Prisoners two families are shocked when their daughters disappear. The fathers, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) both react differently. Although they initially start searching together, the way they handle once a suspect (played by Paul Dano) has been arrested could not be more different.
Prisoners is one of those good old-fashioned thrillers I feel like I have not seen in a long time. Although a detective, named Loki and played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is investigating the case and is able to arrest a suspect, he does not have enough evidence in order to hold him it is Jackman’s character who is willing to go to extremes in order to find his little girl. Detective Loki meanwhile tries to follow each lead and get the person responsible. He slowly uncovers more details and makes some shocking discoveries, but will he be able to find the girls before they might be lost forever?
Just like the title implies I too felt taken prisoner by this movie. It is such a captivating story and the performances of the whole cast are stunning. Paul Dano keeps impressing me and here he convincingly portrays a strange individual who might have something to do with the disappearance of the girls. Jackman puts a lot of emotion into his role as the father and he really made me think how far I would go if anything happened to my children. I might not think I would do what he does here, but like it happens to him, the situation might bring out something you were not expecting. Gyllenhaal is as solid as ever and with such a great story as this it is a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat till the end. One of my favorite movies this year.
Good review Nostra. While the cast is wide and the movie is long, it still remains interesting just about the whole way through. The only problem with it is the last half-hour when too many things are spelled-out for us.
Yeah, edge of your seat stuff.
I enjoyed this film greatly as well. Sadly, it did not do so well here in the States.
No? Very surprising which such a great cast and story.
Very nice work and glad to see you felt so strongly about it. My feelings towards the film have dampened a little over time, but it’s still a strong picture.
Yeah? Why did those feelings dampen?
I think it’s one of those pictures where you come out of the cinema revved up by what you’ve seen but then, as time goes by and you start to pick it apart it loses some of its gloss. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really solid piece of work; it’s just that I haven’t really thought about it very much since, unlike the stuff I really connected with. Hope that makes sense!
Yeah it does!
One of my favorites movies of the year too.
Great. Did you make a top 10?
Great review man! I saw this just recently (my review to come in February) and was amazed at just how entraced i was through its nearly three-hour run time. Such captivating performances from everyone involved, and a riveting story that made me wonder if I would be capable of much the same. I suspect I would, which is scary….
Yeah, it is long, but does not feel like that. Yeah, a scary thought indeed and I think I would be able to go pretty far when it comes to the kids.
I hate to imagine what I’d be capable of. I empathise enormously with Jackman’s character.
Yeah, me too!
Great film Nostra. Glad to hear you enjoyed it too. I really didn’t expect much from it beforehand but it was solid stuff.
I was really surprised by it and it has ended up in my top 10.
One of my favourite movies. Phenomenal performances from Hugh and Jake. Paul Dano is fantastic and criminally underrated. Great review!
Thank you!
Nice write up Nostra, I like this one a lot as well. I thought they tried a little too hard to go for a trick ending though it was the only thing that held me back from loving it. Really strong performances from the lead and some excellent cinematography as well. Definitely one of the better pictures of the year.
Thanks Griff. Did not feel like a trick ending to me, but I can understand you feeling that way. It has ended up in my top 10 of 2013 so I have to agree it is one of the better pictures 😉
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