Prisoners

Apparently Canada is looking forward to that annual ceremony held by AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) more than anyone else.  The person responsible for this is one Denis Villeneuve.  His attempts to date haven’t been under a banner as big as that for Prisoners.  However, he has been much lauded over the years both within and outside Canada.

I for one thought that Prisoners was definitely a good movie.  But is the excitement warranted? I am not quite sure.  For one, Prisoners is too long for my comfort.  153 minutes of run time was about 15 minutes too long for my comfort.  There was definitely room for improvement there.  The aggressive editor would have managed to chop even close to 30 minutes making it a really tight movie.

Prisoners has a reasonably standard serial killer story line.  Joy Birch (Kyla Drew Simmons) and Anna Dover (Erin Gerasimovich) are a couple of 6 year olds.  After a Thanksgiving dinner, at Joy’s place, they run across to Anna’s to search for a whistle that Anna’s father, Keller (Hugh Jackman) had given her.  An hour or so later, realization sets in that the girls haven’t returned.

The only clue that the police have was the presence of a run-down RV that was parked a couple of lanes away.  The cops manage to track down the RV soon enough to one Alex Jones (Paul Dano) but over a couple of days they have to release Alex for lack of any evidence.  In fact, Alex has the IQ of a 10 year old and stays with his widowed aunt – Holly (Melissa Leo).

Villeneuve sets up the story over the first hour or so.  What he does to add value is to present the angle about the extent to which a common man can and will go to.  When the police fail to keep Alex in custody, Keller decides to kidnap him and beat the truth out of him. But with little success.  The make up for Paul Dano’s beaten up face makes you cringe – simply stunning.

It is always refreshing to see a serial killer movie that retains the element of suspense till the last few minutes.  The seasoned campaigner may be able to figure out the twist in the tale but not many of us qualify as “seasoned”.  In all, Prisoners to me is the movie of the week.  7.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3294275865/?ref_=tt_ov_vi