[8]
Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal co-star in this gripping crime drama centered around the abduction of two young girls. Jackman plays one of the girl’s father and Gyllenhaal is the police detective assigned to the case. Gyllenhaal uncovers several unsettling clues, including a corpse in a priest’s basement and several suitcases full of snakes and bloody children’s clothes. But when Jackman loses patience, he kidnaps and tortures a mentally disabled suspect who may or may not be the perpetrator.
Prisoners is an engrossing mystery that builds to a tense, shocking climax. The plot is intriguing on its own, but screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski further enriches the story with fully-formed, flawed but sympathetic characters. Hugh Jackman is the stand-out, delivering a career-best performance as the grieving father whose desperation leads him to make some dark choices. We worry about him, but we never stop rooting for him. Gyllenhaal’s character is more reserved, but his determination is never in question. The film stirs considerable pathos by setting these men in conflict with one another, even though they share the same noble aim.
This unpredictable and absorbing film had me on the edge of my seat, and that’s a rare, remarkable treat. Director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Dune) embellishes the narrative with a palpable, brooding atmosphere, assisted by one of the world’s greatest living cinematographers, Roger Deakins, who received the film’s only Oscar nomination. (Jackman and Guzikowski should have been nominated along with him.) The supporting cast is an embarrassment of additional riches, including Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) as Jackman’s stunted prisoner, Viola Davis and Terrence Howard as the parents of the other missing girl, Maria Bello as Jackman’s distraught wife, and Melissa Leo (The Fighter) as Dano’s caretaker.
With Wayne Duvall, David Dastmalchian, and Len Cariou.
Oscar Nomination: Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins)