The Prisoners: Movie Review
By: Arianna Cecchini
Warner Brothers produced a heart-thumping thriller last September titled “The Prisoners” starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film takes place in a rural New England neighborhood on Thanksgiving wherein two families share dinner together. Joy and Anna, two six year old girls, ask to walk to Anna’s house to get toys. They leave without supervision.
The two are abducted in an old, run-down RV, and Alex Jones is the driver. Alex is a disheveled, grungy guy who makes your skin crawl with just one look at him. Alex is quickly arrested for being the driver of the RV that allegedly abducted the girls. Alex’s Aunt, who he lives with, pleads to the cops that he is mentally incapable of committing such a crime and that he should be released. Detective Looki, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, gets assigned to the case that stirs numerous confrontations with Keller Dowler (Hugh Jackman), Anna’s father.
Keller is an aggressive man who cannot handle patiently waiting for the cops to take care of what they promise. When Alex Jones is released on a lack of evidence, Keller kidnaps him and keeps him captive in his father’s deserted rundown apartment. This is where he brutally beats and tortures him to try to get the truth–the kid does not crack, leaving Jackman’s inner wolverine to make an appearance in the film.
When a strange man runs from Looki, during the girls’ candle light ceremony, he instantly becomes a suspect. Looki finally gets a lead on where the suspect is hiding out and arrests him, also finding children’s clothes containing blood stains in his house. The girls’ clothes are found and the viewer is left to think that the movie is reaching it’s end; it is only near the climax.
It becomes learned that this random suspect actually was a kidnapped boy himself. He had snakes in his house and constantly drew creepy mazes. When questioned about where the girls are, he quickly grabs one of the police officers weapons to shoot himself in the head, leaving Detective Looki in yet another stand still. When the blood is tested for from the clothing, it is learned that it is pig’s blood, not children’s; hope remains that the girls are still alive. Keller decides to go to Alex’s Aunt to get some information.
She seems like a kind old lady, but she is covering for her nephew. Keller links her husband’s death to a suspect on the news, realizing that she may very well be the person holding the girls hostage. The story takes a major twist.
Not only did Warner Brothers produce a heart-clenching thriller, they also brought out the fiery inner-personalities of Jackman and Gyllenhaal. It is a movie that has an open plot. The viewer cannot predict a thing, making this a must see. It is a classic, edge-of-your-seat thriller. The movie is a great Saturday night watch; and if you haven’t seen it yet, it should be your first choice on a snow day.
