Prisoners (2013)
"Prisoners" benefits a great deal from a strong cast. In particular the two central roles of Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman, both of whom are on top form here, as well as a wonderful performance from Paul Dano.
On the one hand there was a very interesting and intense film here concerning a detective struggling with a difficult child disappearance case and a father who cannot handle feeling helpless and is prepared to go to extreme and unconscionable lengths. The father does this because waiting for the detective makes him feel powerless. He lives by strong principles to always be self-reliant and prepared for anything. He feels guilty and weak when his children are taken so easily and none of his preparation seems to help. The two performances made this side of the film work very well and I was very impressed.
On the other hand, another vital part of this film is the case itself. There's some bizarre motifs here, including trunks full of snakes and a book full of maze puzzles. To be quite frank, the whole disappearance case was nonsense.
One of the clues around about half-way through the film involves a priest talking about a man who came to him to confess. We are told that the man told the priest that he was on a mission against God. Now naturally that is quite easily the sort of thing that a crazy person might say, but as the film progressed it felt like it was a message the filmmakers expected us to take seriously.
Towards the end, it seemed like "Prisoners" was pretty much lifting from the movie "The Vanishing" and not really doing it so well. The plot became far too convoluted and the resolution felt like a bit of a cheat.
But as I said before, half of this film was very well done indeed. In spite of the ridiculous crime drama/mystery side of the plot, the interplay between Gyllenhaal and Jackman is very well handed indeed. There's a wonderful atmosphere throughout the film and it's a real pity that this film wrapped up the way it did when there was so much potential here. I wouldn't be surprised to see a really fantastic film from this director, but they need a better story to work on than this.
I can see why some people might be able to accept the way the crime drama side of things played out and would therefore really enjoy this film. But I personally felt really let down.
C-