When two young girls go
missing and the police release the main suspect, one of the girl’s father starts
fighting with the young officer in charge of the search, before taking matters
into his own hands to rescue them himself.
Dan Jolin noted in his
review, “Having earned an Oscar nomination for his last film, Incendies, French-Canadian
director Denis Villeneuve crosses the border for his English-language debut,
Prisoners, a very American crime mystery. Villeneuve’s never been the cheeriest
of filmmakers, so his portrait of US suburbia squats beneath dirty-white skies,
draped in a thin snow that you know will never make for good angels.”
The main topic is
really harsh, focusing on the mysterious disappearance of two girls. Jolin
mentioned, “But this isn’t a straight investigation — when are they ever? — as
the cops arrest the likely abductor just a few scenes later: a greasy-haired
creep with a Michael Jackson voice and “the IQ of a ten-year-old” played by
Paul Dano.” Wouldn’t that be too obvious and it couldn’t have been him? The father
of one of the girls, Keller Dover, played by Hugh Jackman, would disagree, and
being a good, Christian, American survivalist, with gas masks and lime bags in
the basement, decides to look for his daughter himself. On the release because
of not having enough evidence, Dano’s Alex Jones is captured and jailed in
Dover’s DIY torture cage until he mentions the girls’ location. However, the
search continues by desolate cop Loki, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Jolin said, “Prisoners
is a smartly structured, solidly performed thriller, executing intertwining
races against time — to save both the girls, and prove Alex’s innocence or
guilt — within the same psychological labyrinth. And the political undercurrent
is not hard to detect: Dover is the America that invaded Iraq, believing his
grief-fuelled quest for justice places him beyond morality and the law.”
Jolin continued, “Back
on the surface, there are all the expected turns and twists, and anyone familiar
with the genre will sniff out one particularly plump red herring.” Also, it is
sad the film has a clichéd character that sees an important clue after throwing
all the files to the floor when stressed. However, Villeneuve and writer Aaron
Guzikowski keep you hooked and guessing, never allowing either the tension, or
the coldness, to yield.
Jolin ended his review
by saying, “A decent, cogent, greyly atmospheric thriller with something to say
about War-On-Terror America.”
Now this isn’t the type
of Thanksgiving movie that you can watch with the whole family. Still, for
those who are old enough to watch “Prisoners” should because you will
absolutely love it. The movie plays with your deductive reasoning when it comes
guessing who and where the girls are being held captive. Don’t miss your chance
on watching this because you will love it, I promise.
Happy Thanksgiving to
all of my online viewers! Please be safe out there today and do not travel.
Just have a Zoom chat with the extended family. That would be best in the times
that we’re in and try not to stress out too much with making the dinner. Just
keep it simple and enjoy whatever you have. Make sure to be thankful for
everything and hope that society will get better soon so that we can go back to
way things were before.
Stay tuned tomorrow for
the finale of “Jarhead Month.”
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