Staring: Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover Paul Dano as Alex Jones Maria Bello as Grace Dover Melissa Leo as Holly Jones Viola Davis as Nancy Birch Terrence Howard as Franklin Birch Director: Denis Villeneuve Writer: Aaron Guzikowski Crime, Drama, Thriller Rated R 146 minutes Watch This Movie Kidnapping thrillers often lull us into a sense of safety in the opening sequences, showing the normal rhythms of life that will soon be shattered. Denis Villeneuves Prisoners does not go that route. It opens with a shot of a snowy forest, where a deer quietly noses around for food. Into the frame comes the barrel of a shotgun. We hear a prayer being intoned. Boom, the deer goes down. The camera pulls back to show a father (Hugh Jackman) and teenage son (Dylan Minnette), in day-glo hunting gear staring at their kill through the ranks of bare trees. On the drive home, the father, who seems humorless, intense, and a bit of a bore, lectures the son on how to always be prepared for the worst in life. This opening is so heavy-handed that its amazing that the film doesnt instantly collapse under its symbolic weight. Shot by the great Roger Deakins, regular cinematographer for the Coen brothers, the movie is drenched in rain and drained of color. Aspects of Prisoners are effective, but for the most part its rather ridiculous (despite the fact that it clearly wants to be taken super-seriously), and theres an overwrought quality to much of the acting. Kidnapping thrillers often lull us into a sense of safety in the opening sequences, showing the normal rhythms of life that will soon be shattered. Denis Villeneuves Prisoners does not go that route. It opens with a shot of a snowy forest, where a deer quietly noses around for food. Into the frame comes the barrel of a shotgun. We hear a prayer being intoned. Boom, the deer goes down. The camera pulls back to show a father (Hugh Jackman) and teenage son (Dylan Minnette), in day-glo hunting gear staring at their kill through the ranks of bare trees. On the drive home, the father, who seems humorless, intense, and a bit of a bore, lectures the son on how to always be prepared for the worst in life. This opening is so heavy-handed that its amazing that the film doesnt instantly collapse under its symbolic weight. Shot by the great Roger Deakins, regular cinematographer for the Coen brothers, the movie is drenched in rain and drained of color. Aspects of Prisoners are effective, but for the most part its rather ridiculous (despite the fact that it clearly wants to be taken super-seriously), and theres an overwrought quality to much of the acting.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 03:12:11 +0000
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