Prisoners Taking more than the Audience Captive

            I was drawn to Prisoners by the previews. After I saw the first one I knew I had to see it as soon as it came out. Boy did it not disappoint. There’s just so much to it and the depth of this movie is so great that I fell in love with it after seeing it just once. If you read nothing else on this post read this; watch this movie.

            Keller Dover, Hugh Jackman, is your average loving husband and father. He’s even friends with his neighbors up the street. But one Thanksgiving his daughter goes missing along with her friend and everything is about to change. What lengths will Dover go to to find his daughter when he feels the police are failing?

            I don’t even know where to start with this movie. But I must start somewhere, so let’s take a look at the cast. Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, and Melissa Leo all in one film, and those are just the top billed from IMDb. However, everyone knows that just because big names are in a movie doesn’t make it good. (Just look at Taken 2.) This movie, though, with the combination of a great director, Denis Villeneuve, and a great writer, Aaron Guzikowski, and a great cast, it all adds up to a great movie. Sure some might nitpick some of the lines and say that they are trite, but somehow those tired old lines make the movie feel all the more real. Without a doubt if you watch this movie you will be able to relate to at least one of the characters that gets air time. (Hopefully it’s not the bad guy.) That’s how real it all is. You watch this movie and you find yourself sympathizing with someone at one moment and then the next you’re cheering the families on to do what they have to do. It’s a rollercoaster ride for your emotions. By the end of the movie you’ll have done it all. Sure this is a very dark movie by nature, but there is still a moment or two when you laugh and it works hard for it but the movie does get you to smile. Nevertheless, though, with all the happiness it brings it also brings sorrow and anger and frustration. As I said this movie has it all. One thing I particularly like about this movie is the background music that plays through out. It’s so perfectly planned and played at just the right level that you don’t even notice that you’re hearing it. I just watched this movie not thirty minutes before writing this and I couldn’t tell you a single song that played till the end credits. That is a sign of, dare I say it, perfection. Before I give the recommendation that you all already know I’m going to give I have to take a minute to say something more about the actors. I watched the special features on the disc and without fail each one of the actors mentioned studying their role. They actually went out and did research about families whose child has gone missing and they researched it to the point to where they were in that mind set. This is a big reason for me why I could never be an actor. I couldn’t imagine having to portray a mother whose child has gone missing. I couldn’t even imagine getting in that mind set. So here it is big Hollywood stars, my props to you for being able to do what most of us could never dream of doing. Enough of that now. So here it comes guys the big shocker when I tell you that you’ve got to see this one for yourself. You really have to. This is going to be one of those movies that hangs around for a long time.

On the fence about the movie? See if the preview will send you over.
Come back next time to read my review of one of the great classics To Kill a Mockingbird.