Dark dramas about
child kidnapping do not make for Hollywood fare. “Prisoners” breaks that mold
with its unsettling story one that remains gripping –- for the most part -- to
the end, with a cast that digs deep. It centers on a Pennsylvania family (an excellent Hugh
Jackman as father and Mario Bello as mother) that believes in God, guns, and “be
ready” survivalist skills. Their all-American spirit shatters when their young
daughter disappears on Thanksgiving Day, along with the child of an African-American
family (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis). Jackman’s father who demands self-control
loses himself to rage and takes hostage and savagely tortures a suspect (Paul
Dano) cut loose by police for lack of evidence. What would
Jesus do? Does it matter? Meanwhile, a detective (Jake Gyllenhaal) searches for
the girls, hitting roadblocks and errors: He causes a jailhouse death, a move
that shatters not his confidence, but the story’s logic flow. Ugly move: Director
Denis Villeneuve marginalizes the mothers as they play to weeping clichés as the
men do Manly Things. I fumed. But I also loved many details: The turkey and pie
leftovers sitting uncollected for days and the sheer dullness of next-door evil in our America. B
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Prisoners (2013)
Labels:
2013,
crime,
evil,
faith,
family,
God,
Hugh Jackman,
Jake Gyllenhaal,
justice,
kidnapping,
Mario Bello,
Paul Dano,
Prisoners,
Terrence Howard,
Viola Davis,
violence
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment