Prisoners

When Prisoners ended, I felt emotionally drained, and it felt good.  I very seldom label a drama as being devastating, but that's exactly what this movie is.  It's raw, it's emotional, and it holds a certain kind of dramatic power that few films achieve.  The fact that the film's screenwriter, Aaron Gruzikowski, was able to tap into this power with only his second screenplay (his first being last year's mediocre Contraband) shows two things - That he's learned a lot since his last script, and that he knows something that a lot of other writers in Hollywood should learn.

As fate would have it, just this morning, I was talking with somebody about how so many movies are afraid to have the audience feel.  They have plugged in characters, facing a pre-packaged crisis that is designed to solve itself neatly in about 90 minutes.  Either that, or they're so generic and bland, I'm left wondering who thought it was a good idea to sink millions of dollars into the project in the first place.  Take the last movie I saw and reviewed, The Grandmaster - a visually striking film that was completely cold and lifeless on the emotional level.  Were it not for the director's style, it would have been as forgettable as stale white bread.  Now, Prisoners is a complete package.  Not only is it chillingly beautiful (thanks to director Denis Villeneuve, and cinematographer Roger Deakins, who give the film a bleak and appropriate winter setting), but it is emotionally involving, and the rare mystery that will actually keep you guessing.  The movie doesn't try to be clever or throw you off.  It's just been very carefully constructed, and the material works because it's not the cookie cutter sort of mystery and suspense that we expect from a major studio production with big name talent.

The story starts out simply enough, with two neighboring families coming together for Thanksgiving.  They are the Dovers, headed by survivalist father Keller (Hugh Jackman) and his wife Grace (Maria Bello), and the Birches, which include father Franklin (Terrance Howard) and housewife Nancy (Viola Davis).  After dinner, while the adults are chatting in the living room, and the teenage kids are watching TV, the two youngest daughters from both families, Anna Dover (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy Birch (Kyla Drew Simmons) decide to go outside and play, and disappear shortly thereafter.  The only possible clue is that Keller's teenage son saw the two girls playing around an old R.V. that was parked outside a neighboring home earlier, and now the vehicle is gone as well.  Police Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is called in on the case, and quickly tracks down the suspicious vehicle and its driver, a man named Alex (Paul Dano) who has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old, and claims to know nothing about the girls.  There is circumstantial evidence, but not enough to hold him in prison for longer than 24 hours.  When Keller learns about this, he decides to take the law into his own hands, and begins following Alex around, thinking of how to force a confession from the young man.

The trailers and ad campaign for Prisoners make it look like this is a story of a father possibly going too far in his search for the girls and for personal justice.  And while that certainly is a big element of the plot, it's far from the central focus.   This is the rare film that truly cares about the characters, and have made them intelligent, thoughtful people who are flawed.  Therefore, we are immediately drawn to them, and are willing to follow them down whatever desperate or dark paths their actions may take them.  And yes, this is an unflinchingly dark movie.  Some may find the film hard to watch, due to its themes of child abduction and possible murder, as well as torture and cruelty.  But this is not an exploitive drama.  Yes, it is sad and terrifying, but it is also fascinating, and it is that human element that makes it so.  We like these people, and when they are forced to do terrible things, we feel for them, as well as feel their mixed emotions about what they are doing in order to get answers.

I know I talked a little bit about it early on, but let me go into more detail about how well thought out the script is.  Nothing is left to waste here, and while certain elements may seem out of place in the plot at first, the writer is only setting up something for later.  This thriller not only managed to surprise me on more than one occasion, but it actually made sense as the pieces fell into place.  Being so used to movies that start out with a great set up, only to fall apart as the answers are revealed, I can only say that this script should be studied by anyone writing a mystery, or thinking of writing one.  Nothing seems like it was just thrown in to catch the audience off guard, or lead them in the wrong direction.  This is a story that has been thought out step-by-stop, and it shows in just about every scene.

I really can't think of any aspect of the film that doesn't add to it in some way.  There's the appropriately damp and dreary winter atmosphere, which adds to the hopelessness these characters are feeling.  There's also the subtle music score, which is wise enough to never drown out the action or spell out the emotion we're supposed to be feeling.  And, of course, there are the performances.  Headed up by a career-best performance by Hugh Jackman (He has never been so absorbing as he is here.), the entire cast, which includes a number of award winners and nominees, is in top shape, and will hopefully earn some recognition early next year when awards are handed out.  These are all honest performances.  Nobody seems to be playing for the cameras.  This is as raw and as emotional of a movie that I have seen so far this year.

I have already spoken to some people who say they don't want to see Prisoners, because "it looks depressing".  I have no idea how anyone could find a completely absorbing drama depressing.  Yes, it can get very dark, and this is not exactly a "feel good" movie.  But how can it be depressing when it is so captivating?  You want to watch a depressing movie?  Go see the number of movies out there that are just like everything else you've seen before, only done with less passion.  This is a real cinematic experience.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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