Prisoners

Movie Title--  Prisoners

Release Year--  2013

Running Time--  2 Hours and 33 Minutes

Director--  Denis Villeneuve

Cast--  Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette

When two young girls go missing in the middle of the day a father takes the law into his own hands while the police follow multiple leads to try to find the missing girls before time runs out.

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his family attend Thanksgiving dinner with their neighbor Franklin Birch's (Terrence Howard) family and as the day wears on the two youngest daughters of each family, Anna Dover and Joy Birch, become restless.  Anna asks if the two girls can walk to her house and find a whistle that she misplaced and the girls are told to ask their older siblings to go with them.  When it is later discovered that the girls did not ask anyone to accompany them, Keller goes to his house to see if the girls are there.  When no one can find the girls, they call the police and report them missing.

Detective David Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is having his Thanksgiving dinner alone in a restaurant when a call comes over the radio about a missing RV that was last seen in the area where the girls were.  When Loki arrives at the scene, the driver tries to get away and then hits a tree, allowing Loki to arrest him.  At the station Loki learns the man is named Alex Jones (Paul Dano) and he has the IQ of a ten year old.  Alex is eventually released, leading to a dangerous confrontation with Keller Dover.

Feeling as if the police are not going to help, Keller decides to take the law into his own hands while Detective Loki follows the very few leads he finds both men racing against time to find Anna and Joy.

I enjoyed this film but I felt like it was a little long, although I feel at the same time if the film would have been trimmed down any, small bits and pieces that helped to make the film so great may have been lost.  I also feel like the ending leaves the imagination to draw it's own conclusions about how life continues for all parties involved after the story has ended.  Also, the synopsis is very vague because I felt like saying too much would give away some of the film and if anyone is willing to invest their time in this film, I don't want to give it all away before it gets viewed.

There is some violence in this film and Jackman has more than a few very loud and angry outbursts throughout the film.  I can't say I blame him, he is playing the role of a man who's daughter is taken and as the mother of a small child, I can honestly say that I would probably have a few outbursts myself if I were in that kind of a situation but there were a few times that it feel like the outburst were a little unnecessary.  

Overall, I was very impressed with Jackman and Gyllenhaal's performances.  I think they work very well together and their interactions in the film look genuine and relaxed.  The film is worth the watch although as I mentioned previously, it does tend to feel a little long during a few points.  Clear some time off your schedule to check this lengthy film out and Don't Forget the Popcorn!