Prisoners Movie Review

What would you do if someone you loved were taken from you?  How far would you go?  Would you lower to the levels of becoming a criminal yourself, taking matters into your own hands?  That is the central theme in Prisoners, director Denis Villeneuve’s (Incendies) new kidnapping-mystery melodrama starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Kelly Dover and his wife, Grace (Jackman and Maria Bello) join neighborhood friends, Frank and Nancy Birch (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis), for a quiet Thanksgiving afternoon.  As the festivities come to a close, Kelly realizes both his and Frank’s young daughters have gone missing.

Enter Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal), a difficult yet dedicated cop who, according to his Captain, has solved every case he has been assigned.  Loki picks up Alex Jones (Paul Dano), a young man with the apparent mind of a 10 year-old, who was last seen driving around Dover’s neighborhood in his dirtied up RV at the time of the girls’ abduction.

When Loki releases Jones due to lack of evidence, Dover decides to take matters into his own hands.  Himself resorting to kidnapping, Dover picks up Alex and begins the process of torture to find his daughter before time runs out.

This is where the central morality of the film comes into play.  If Alex is involved, torture would seemingly be justified from the perspective of many.  Yet, if Alex is not involved, then Dover is torturing a mildly retarded young man who could not possibly provide him with an answer anyway.

Which begs the question: Do the ends every truly justify the means?

Hugh Jackman gives his most nuanced and layered performance to date.  As Dover, the survivalist and father, Jackman embodies the scary realities of what it means to be a father.  To love your children, to teach them to protect themselves, as well as the rage and stages you go through once you realize you have failed them.

Dover is a man who believes whole-heartedly that torturing Alex is the only way he can save his daughter.  He let the system try and now his options have become desperate.  Dano also injects Alex with a layer of sympathy that, at times, makes it very difficult to relate to the awful tortures being inflicted upon him.  Dover fights through those moments of uncertainty to continue his mission of succeeding where the police cannot. It is a powerful performance by Jackman, and I sympathized with Dover throughout every twisted form of punishment he doled out.

Also wrapped up in the film is an old-fashioned mystery, as Detective Loki searches for the girls and the truth behind their abduction.  Gyllenhaal has the harder role, as there is little bite to Loki on the page.  What he gives us is a character filled with moody darkness, littered with random character tics and details that elevate his detective from most in these types of films and leaves the audience in breathless anticipation of his next move.

Howard and Davis, two wonderful actors, are given the proverbial backseat in the film as the more passive parents involved, while Bello becomes so self-medicated it is a challenge for her to simply pick up the phone.  The three Oscar-caliber actors are here to present the varying sides of a child abduction case, yet they are all relegated to little more than background characters as mystery and torture leap to the forefront.

Denis Villeneuve directs the film with an inspired confidence that is rarely seen by such an unproven filmmaker.  Veering in and out of typical film clichés, he injects the right amount of originality to make most of Prisoners feel like a completely fresh and thoughtful take on both the vigilante and mystery genres.  For most of the film, I was kept literally on the edge of my seat waiting for the next frame or performance.  A feat that happens not nearly enough in cinemas today.

When the truth is finally revealed, and I parted from the final shot, whether or not I bought into the film’s explanations or character motives mattered very little to me.  I had just been taken on a ride that I enjoyed every minute of, filled with performances, particularly Jackman and Gyllenhaal, that I could decipher for days.  Held captive for two and a half hours, all I wanted was to take the ride again.

Prisoners is the best film I have seen so far this year and one people will be debating about for some time to come.

 

If $10 is the full price of admission, Prisoners is worth $9.50.