Prisoners

MPAA/Content R [AC, AL, SV]

Distributor Warner Bros.

Technical HD 1.85:1

Genres DRA CRI THR

Runtime 153 mins.

Country USA

Budget $46M

 

CAST

Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoë Soul, Erin Gerasimovich, Kyla-Drew Simmons, Wayne Duvall & Len Cariou

 

CREDITS

Director: Denis Villeneuve;  Screenwriter: Aaron Guzikowski;  Producers: Broderick Johnson, Kira Davis, Andrew A. Kosove & Adam Kolbrenner;  Director Of Photography: Roger A. Deakins;  Production Designer: Patrice Vermette;  Editors: Joel Cox & Gary D. Roach;  Costume Designer: Renée April;  Music Composer: Jóhann Jóhannsson

 

THE SYNOPSIS

Keller Dover (Jackman) is a hardworking-but-struggling-carpenter and loving family man to his wife Grace (Bello) and his son Ralph (Minnette) & daughter Anna (Gerasimovich).  Thanksgiving dinner finds the Dovers visiting their neighbors, The Birches: Franklin (Howard), wife Nancy (Davis), elder daughter Eliza (Soul) & younger daughter Joy (Drew-Simmons).

Complications occur when Anna and Joy go missing.  Hours later, the police arrive, with the taciturn but determined Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) leading the case.  An RV that was spotted in the neighborhood earlier is searched and its owner, simple-minded Alex Jones (Dano), arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.  But without any evidence or proof of life (or death), Loki must release Alex to his Aunt Holly (Leo).

Keller, driven by blind rage, kidnaps the young man and chains him to a pipe in Keller’s abandoned building.  He brings Franklin in and the men torture Alex.  Days and weeks go by, but a bloodied Alex refuses to talk.  Loki, alerted by Holly (Leo) as to his disappearance, suspects that Keller is holding him hostage.

A break in the case occurs when another young man, Bob Taylor (Dastmalchian), confesses to the kidnappings.  He then kills himself while in police custody—leaving no conclusive evidence of his crimes.  Keller is not convinced that Taylor did it—especially when Joy is discovered drugged, but alive.  She informs Keller that he was already near them when he went to Holly’s house to discuss Alex.

Keller approaches Holly for answers at her house—and she shoots him in the leg.  Turns out Holly has a few dark secrets—and they involve kidnapping children, like Alex and Bob were long ago.  Holly imprisons Keller in the same underground pit where she held the girls.  Who knew that the Face of Evil could seem so normal?

Loki appears—having already found Alex barely alive at Keller’s building–and having come to the same conclusion as Keller.  A bloody confrontation occurs that ends badly.

 

THE CRITIQUE

Wow.  Like a punch to la panza, PRISONERS leaves its mark on the viewer.  Especially this viewer—someone who has always held some trepidation about watching these types of movies.  When I was a kid, I always wondered what would happen if I were ever kidnapped…

I now realize that I was such a precocious little bastard that the kidnappers would have: 1) simply returned me to my house within 20 minutes… 2) kicked me out of the proverbial white van (what is it with kidnappers & terrorists and white vans?)… and 3) given my parents ransom money to KEEP me.  Yeah, that’s about right.  But I digress back to the movie review…

Written in taut fashion by newbie scribe Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband), PRISONERS is a serious movie whose title has several meanings.  It is helmed with exacting manipulation by Quebeçois director Denis Villeneuve (Enemy)—coaxing terrific performances from his cast and utilizing the tight cutting schema of his editors Joel Cox (Clint Eastwood’s cutter and Oscar^®-winner for 1992’s Unforgiven; also cut J. Edgar, Flags Of Our Fathers, Sudden Impact) & Gary D. Roach (J. Edgar, Gran Torino, Invictus) to ratchet up the tension.  This dude has a future in Hollywood, that’s for sure.  And the editors?  They’re already brilliant.

The always-dependable Hugh Jackman brings gravitas to his Keller Dover role.  Bringing out the violent dark side of an honest, blue-collar family man is something that he’s up to.  Hey, this dude can act (and sing, dance and do whatever the hell else he freakin’ wants!).  But sorry ladies—he keeps his shirt on in this one.

One thing I wonder about is if the screenwriter purposely named his character “Dover”—whose etymology (by a quick search on the internet) refers to not just a port in England, but also the river that leads to it.  Could the name be reference to Keller’s emotional states in the movie… calm or turbulent as a river?  And the root word of his last name is “Dove”—meaning peaceful?  A peaceful man who travels the turbulent rivers of life?  Just some random thoughts…

Also of note is the other half of the top billing, Jake Gyllenhaal as the intrepid Detective Loki—who also brings a different intensity as another person (under the auspices of the Law) trying to find the missing children.  But his name throws me for a loop: Loki.  In Norse myth (and the Thor/Avenger movies personified by British actor Tom Hiddleston), Loki is the God of Mischief.  How does that relate to Gyllenhaal’s character—who is, if anything, quite pedantic in his investigative methods.  Beats the hell out of me—but Jake’s a good actor and he and Jackman have great tension rapport, so I’ll just leave it at that!

The supporting cast is also top-notch—with the standouts being Paul Dano (a chameleonic actor if there ever was one) as the kidnapper-or-victim Alex Jones and Oscar^®-winner Melissa Leo (for 2010’s The Fighter) as Aunt Holly with the dark secrets.  Bello, Howard and Davis do their parts well—but register less than the former two thespians.

Production values on the $46 million production (boxofficemojo.com) are solid across the board.  The Pennsylvania-set movie was actually shot in what has to be the dreariest parts of Georgia.

Actually, most of the “dreary” part must be credited to brilliant, veteran British cinematographer Roger A. Deakins (Skyfall, No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski, The Shawshank Redemption)—for properly conveying (in dreary blues and muted grays) this grim mood via his use of HD lensing with the ARRI Alexa Plus camera system.  A codicil to this kudo must also go to fellow Quebeçois Production Designer Patrice Vermette (Enemy, The Young Victoria)—for creating “normal” environs that are both vanilla and dreary (yes, that word again).

PRISONERS is reminiscent of a kidnapping yarn that would have starred Charles Bronson back in the day.  You know that his mustache alone would have made Dano’s character sing like a canary!  Seriously, this movie works on all levels.  Even the ambivalent, non-Hollywood ending works—much to the chagrin of regular moviegoers.  But it does show that not everything in Life has a happy ending—or does it?  The movie might end with salvation…we can only hope.  Either way…kudos to all in front of—and behind—the camera.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE 

One of (if not) the grimmest movie of 2013, PRISONERS is a harrowing yarn made palatable by terrific casting, strong direction and taut screenwriting that does not go the typical Hollywood route.  Buoyed by all-around talent, this one could make a decent run come awards season.  But don’t chain me to a pipe if it doesn’t come to pass!

 

 

 

IMDB:                    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392214/

Wikipedia:             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_(2013_film)

Official Site:          http://prisonersmovie.warnerbros.com