Prisoners (2013)

Before seeing Prisoners, I guaranteed to people that it would be good.  Sometimes it is as if I just know.  I did not have any doubts about this movie at all.  I am not narcissistic.  I just sort of have a sixth sense.  I am like Haley Joel Osment’s character in The Sixth Sense (1999).  However, instead of seeing dead people, I see good movies.

Can’t you just hear me whispering softly?  “I see good movies.”

Bruce Willis responds, “In your dreams?”

I shake my head no.

“While you’re awake?”

I nod.

“Good movies like, in graves?  In coffins?”

“Walking around like regular movies.  They don’t see each other.  They only see what they want to see.  They don’t know they’re good.”

Bruce Willis asks, “How often do you see them?”

I whisper, “All the time.  They’re everywhere.”

Prisoners is about two little girls who go missing.  Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is the father of one of the girls.  He will stop at nothing to find out who took his daughter and will do whatever is necessary to get her back.

The movie was directed by Denis Villeneuve and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrance Howard, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Wayne Duvall, Len Cariou, David Dastmalchian, and Dylan Minnette.

Prisoners was gripping.  It did not take long to pull me in to the disturbingly chilling story.  It’s the next day and I’m still thinking about the film.

It should go without saying that it’s not exactly a feel good movie.  Two little girls disappear.  There is nothing good about that.  Because of the subject matter, some aspects of the film are hard to like.  However, the film was so well-made that it doesn’t pull any punches, and rightfully so.  You have to see the bad in order to appreciate the good.

The movie is brutally violent and gory.  There is plenty of language and blood.  It captures the eeriness of the twisted plot perfectly.

Jackman plays a broken man who does not hesitate to do whatever is necessary to get his daughter back.  His performance was excellent.  It might be his best and more realistic role yet.  It is Hugh Jackman unplugged like you haven’t seen him before.

Gyllenhaal plays the detective on the case.  He is obsessed with his job and has solved every case that he has been assigned to.  He is not about to fail now.  This movie is equally Gyllenhaal’s movie as much as it is Jackman’s.

The rest of the supporting cast all play their parts well and Leo stands out among them.

The film is just over two and a half hours long, but I was so in to it that I did not notice.  Time flies when you’re have fun, or watching a good movie.  Prisoners never gets boring.  It absorbs you and keeps you guessing until the end.

Jackman, Gyllenhaal, and Leo all gave Oscar worthy performances and the film itself is the best movie that I have seen so far this year.

I rate this movie a 9 on a scale on 1-10.

Buy, rent, or run?  Buy.

If you liked Prisoners, then you will probably enjoy:

Mystic River (2003)

End of Watch (2012)

Out of the Furnace (2013)

The Machinist (2004)