Prisoners movie review
September 23, 2013 4:01 am | Leave your thoughts
v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
Normal
0
false
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
SPOILER ALERT: The events of the film Prisoners will be discussed in the following article.
OPINION ALERT: The statements made about this movie by the author may contain personal bias and moderate amounts of cynicism.
Prisoners, directed by Denis Villeneuve, wants to be more profound and important than it actually is. Right out of the gate, this film perpetrates two of my least favorite dramatic clichés to frame the entire narrative: children in peril and heavy religious imagery bordering on the level of a Sunday morning sermon. This is the first film that I have seen from this director and will probably be the last. I hold the director solely responsible for the pacing feeling so drug out. This film could have easily been forty five minutes shorter. There is a scene in the film where several characters are resting their heads in their hands staring at a flickering screen watching another character that is resting at a table. I hypothesize this scene was a conscious choice to show how time can drag by in times of pain and crisis. Another example of poor execution comes in the form of the little symbol in the middle of the “O” on all the movie posters that is extremely important to solving the case in the film. I would have been thrilled to be surprised by the big reveal, but the symbol that was the key to the case would have been far less noticeable if it is not given to you on every poster for the film.
I have always been a “give me the bad news first” kind of a guy so onto some good news. Hugh Jackman’s Keller Dover is a father pushed beyond his breaking point by the only nightmarish scenario that he never prepared for. His conviction that he knows who kidnapped his daughter leads him down a path that reduces him to being nearly as inhuman as the man he hates. Jake Gyllenhaal’s detective Loki is a no nonsense investigator who will not dismiss any possibility in finding a solution to the puzzle set before him. Loki shows passion for his work but not for the people involved because that emotion might cause him to miss something. His scenes were consistently the strongest throughout.
The shining star of this film was cinematographer Roger A Deakins. (No Country for Old Men). The opening shot consisted of Keller and his son hiding in wait in a serene forest for a defenseless deer to be shot and served up for the families Thanksgiving dinner. Deakins turns the Keystone State into a wash of browns and grays set against the gloom of dark skies and barren trees.
Overall, I give this film a Taste It. It has powerful scenes, but they are so slow in their pacing that I found myself checking my watch one too many times.
*Special thanks to Carmike Cinemas at the Grand Prairie Mall in Peoria, IL for allowing me to enjoy my movie going experience. (www.movietickets.com)
Tags: Hugh Jackman, jake gyllenhaal
Categorised in: Movie Reviews, Random Reviews & News
This post was written by David Griffin
Leave a Reply