One thing I can guarantee you about Denis Villenueve’s Prisoners: it’s not the movie you think it is. If you’ve seen the trailers for this film, you may have already labeled it as a clone of Death Wish and every other violent revenge movie of the last three decades. But Prisoners is a far more thoughtful film than pretty much any other in its genre.
Hugh Jackman leads the excellent cast as Keller Dover, a construction worker and father of a six-year-old daughter named Anna. One winter afternoon, Keller and his wife (Maria Bello) and their friends (Viola Davis and Terrence Howard) are enjoying each other’s company when their daughters vanish without a trace, presumably kidnapped while playing outside. The police immediately detain a suspect (Paul Dano) who was seen in the area around the time of the alleged kidnappings, but are forced to release him due to lack of evidence. Keller, however, doesn’t accept this news too kindly and decides to take the law into his own hands. Jake Gyllenhaal, as the no-nonsense detective hunting for the kidnapper, and Melissa Leo, as the suspect’s aunt, round out the all star cast.
Jackman’s performance in this film is almost scary in its believability. He doesn’t have some sort of slow downward spiral when his daughter goes missing. His transition from family man to brutal vigilante is immediate and shocking in its speed. And Gyllenhaal’s excellent turn evokes memories of another of his characters, that of cartoonist Robert Graysmith in David Fincher’s best film, Zodiac. Prisoners is not quite as good as that film, but it is exceedingly well-made and well-acted.
There are scenes in this film that are as intense as anything Hitchcock ever did. Prisoners is the kind of movie that the late Roger Ebert would have described as a Bruised Forearm Movie, because you find yourself gripping the arm of the person next to you during the film’s most suspenseful sequences. Certainly this movie is gruesome and violent like the ads suggest, but Prisoners is more of a whodunit than anything and a flawlessly executed one at that. There are plenty of red herrings and twists, but, unlike in many mysteries, all of them ring true. Only a late discovery by Gyllenhaal comes off as slightly far-fetched.
Even more impressive about Aaron Guzikowski’s screenplay is how it doesn’t shy away from the kind of ethical questions that many writers are afraid to ask. In an era when so many action movies give their heroes a free pass to do whatever they want in the name of justice, Prisoners is refreshing because it not only questions whether what Jackman is doing is right, but whether it is even justice at all. This movie is as challenging as it is gripping and that fact makes it one of the toughest sits of the year. But it’s also one of the most rewarding. Put aside any preconceived notions you may have about this film and strap in for one of the most intense and involving thrillers in years.
Grade: A
