Prisoners....That Sounds About Right

Hey Friends,

Prisoners centers around two families in their frantic search for the man responsible for kidnapping their daughters. As the police follow several red herrings, Keller Dover (played by Hugh Jackman) becomes obsessive in finding the truth.

Hugh Jackman is many things; a great singer,decent actor, Wolverine but, was he the right actor for the film? No, he wasn't. While his character is supposed to be this concerned father, Jackman comes across as someone who watch too many American soap operas. His performance felt forced and melodramtic which cheapened the story. However, it wasn't entirely his fault and he wasn't the only one who suffered.. He and Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Detective Loki, were both subjected to some poor dialogue. Gyllenhaal however, was able to overcome the dialogue for the most part by playing the character indifferent at times which helped scale back the melodrama.

Paul Dano who plays Alex Jones, a suspect in the case, shines with his timid yet cryptic portrayal of the trouble young man. His quiet reservedness is chilling as he becomes a victim himself in more ways than one. Surprisingly Melissa Leo, in very convincing old age makeup, plays the protective aunt of Alex Jones and while she does a pretty good job, her character arch is visible from 50 miles away.

Truth be told, I felt like a prisoner having to watch an almost three hour film. The ending was obvious within the first thirty minutes, so for the next two hours and twenty minutes I sat there wishing someone would let me escape. The film easily could have been cut down to two and half hours but lingering shots of trees got the better of the film. If you want to sit in a dark theatre and pull out your hair, be my guest but for those of you who want to not be stressed out save this one for Netflix.

See you guys next week and keep watching!