If you truly and wholeheartedly believed one person stood in the way between a loved one living and dying, what would you do? Don’t answer until you’ve sat down and watched the two-and-a-half-hour epic that is “Prisoners.” Your answer might surprise you.
Hugh Jackman (“The Wolverine”) retains the emotional intensity he brought to “Les Misérables” as he plays the father of an abducted girl. His downward spiral from light-hearted dad to drunken sociopath is so well done the line is deftly blurred between grieving the abduction of a loved one to torturing an individual for information. A particularly memorable scene about halfway into the movie presents Jackman’s character with the opportunity to release his captive. The film beckons the audience to ask what they would do in such a moral conflict.
The overall plot isn’t revealed — like all the best thrillers — until the final scenes. But “Prisoners” has an “a-ha” moment quite like “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” — that is, it connects all the pieces and simultaneously has you wondering how the hell somebody could come up with it.
But this leads to one of the movie’s greatest weaknesses. For about two hours, a lot of things do not add up — and not in the good, how are they going to make this fit kind of way. An assortment of unneeded scenes distract from the whole, only succeeding in confusing the viewer. This may have been the director’s intent, but it results in a disconnected, frantic feeling. It doesn’t help that the movie is more than two and a half hours long.
A second downside is Jake Gyllenhaal (“End of Watch”). Nothing is exceptional about his portrayal, and he gives easily the weakest performance of the cast. In one of the closing scenes, the character has a chance to really test his acting skills. He doesn’t. An interaction falls flat, and it’s exceedingly disheartening, considering how good the actor can actually be.
But “Prisoners” positives still outweigh its negatives. The twist is extremely satisfying and worthy of reflection once the movie is over. Jackman’s journey is both believable and highly entertaining. The acting, save Gyllenhaal, is exceptional. If you’ve ever wondered just how hard it would be to lose somebody in an abduction, watch this movie. The journey the characters take is entertaining, enlightening and, at the end, shocking.
4.5 out of 5 stars