In these days of most movies being extensions of comic books and video games, it’s nice to see Hollywood release a film for grown-ups. ‘Prisoners’ is maybe the quietest movie that is also this intense. I think it just might be the best crime thriller to come along since ‘Silence of The Lambs’
It starts in a Pennsylvania suburb, where two neighborhood families are getting together for Thanksgiving dinner. Later, each family’s younger daughters go outside to play—later that afternoon, the girls vanish.
As the fathers of the missing girls, Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard give pitch perfect performances—you can feel the sheer panic, mixed with guilt and shame, gushing through their veins. Their search leads them to an ominous RV which was seen earlier in the neighborhood and, wouldn’t you know it, the driver of the RV seems like the very portrait of a pedophile, right down to his creepy eyeglasses and stringy hair. Paul Dano, always so good in his roles, inhabits this “special needs” adult with the intellect of a ten year old with an unparalleled authenticity.
Alas, there’s no physical evidence tying him to the crime, but Jackman’s character has absolutely no doubt in his mind that the police have let the kidnapper (killer?) go free, and he isn’t going to stand there and take it—he’s going to take the law into his own hands, and abduct Dano’s character and proceed to commit Semenax horrific crimes (whether Dano’s character is guilty or not) in an effort to illicit a confession, or any kind of information, for that matter.
Jake Gyllenhaal is the detective on the case, he may be young, but he’s experienced and he is doing his best to find the missing girls, contrary to what their parents may think.
I’ll stop well short of any spoilers—the movie lays down its red herrings with expert execution and revs up your pulse with its “race against the clock” narrative. It’s played for more realism than sensationalism, which is a good choice, since we know that, unlike ghosts opening and closing doors in a creaky old house, the real life stories of child abduction are scarier than any fictional premise. Anyone who watched the recent news of the Cleveland girls’ abduction and imprisonment knows that very well.
But, of course, this is a movie, a piece of entertainment. As such, ‘Prisoners’ succeeds as a popcorn thriller that knows how and when to push the audience’s buttons. There’s skill in that kind of storytelling, and director Denis Villeneuve proves to be quite handy at driving in both the classic Hollywood lane, as well as more artful and thoughtful path. That he deftly balances these two is what makes “Prisoners” the kind of Friday-night-at-the-movies choice that you can feel good about.
Hear what Hugh Jackman thinks of the thriller in his own words:
Excellent coverage KO! You dont toss around accolades recklessly and that makes me want to see this now. Its funny how the tone and quality of films in general has gone south so that when genuine quality comes along these days it seems so rare. Thank you sir!