Prisoners
Denis Villeneuve
The story: Six-year-old Anna and seven-year-old Joy are abducted on Thanksgiving. Suspicion falls on Alex Jones (Paul Dano). Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) races against time as he tries to track down the girls. And Anna’s father Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) will do anything to get her back.

This could easily have been a run-of-the-mill, crime-of-the-week telemovie-type affair. But in the hands of French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners is a gripping thriller that does not let up until the final frame.
He is best known for the searing French-Arabic Incendies, in which a pair of siblings travel to the Middle East and end up uncovering shocking family secrets. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 2011.
Prisoners shows that his knack for compelling storytelling has survived the transition to his English-language debut.
Working with a screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband, 2012), the director keeps you hooked in various ways.
A desperate Keller captures Alex in the belief that he knows where the girls are and proceeds to tighten the screws on him. But with an IQ of a 10-year-old, can Alex really be the culprit? Is he capable of being that diabolical? Surely what Keller is doing is wrong but what if it actually leads to information that can save the two girls?
Villeneuve keeps you guessing whom the movie is going to vindicate or vilify.
All this while, the clock is ticking because with each passing hour and each nerve-racking day, the chances of the girls being found alive diminish.
Villeneuve’s assured direction can be seen in his careful pacing over the 21/2 hours as well as his confidence in going for the quiet moments, culminating in an ending which provides a resolution without spelling everything out over a blasting soundtrack.
The cast is top-notch as well.
Hugh Jackman’s intense grief and explosive anger make Keller a man you absolutely do not want to cross, while Jake Gyllenhaal humanises the dogged Loki with his habit of blinking furiously when he gets frustrated.
Clashing over the case, the two have a tense showdown in a car in a scene that threatens to boil over at any second.
The rest of the cast include feted actors Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, 2005) and Viola Davis (The Help, 2011) as Joy’s parents and Melissa Leo (Frozen River, 2008) as Alex’s aunt. Mario Bello (A History Of Violence, 2005) is Keller’s devastated wife.
Clearly, all these actors signed up, even for supporting roles, because they knew a good thing when they saw one.
No doubt about it, Prisoners will hold you captive as well.
(ST)