Prisoners

I feel so cheated after watching Prisoners. It really is the worst kind of film; one that promises so much for so long and then totally disappoints by not delivering. At 153 minutes it is long. After about 100 minutes I was a bit niggled by some of the flaws, but there was nothing unforgivable; from the 2 hour mark onwards it just hurtles down hill to a useless ending.

You can't really blame the actors, other than for taking on the film in the first place. Jake Gyllenhaal does best with the weak material he's given, producing an interesting detective. Hugh Jackman tries hard to portray the father, but his character is so badly written that the inconsistencies are shameful. All the other characters are largely inconsequential, even the parents of the other girl, which is another major fault.

The plot is so full of holes. Police procedures are laughable. Jackman's character boasts about being prepared for anything and then confronts the baddie with his back turned. Cue a gun and a long monologue to explain the whole history because the writers couldn't think of a better way to explain what had happened... even though it was pretty obvious at that point.

There are such big questions being posed by this film that it is a travesty that the treatment is so poor. To what extent would a parent take the law into their own hands if they believed their child's life was at stake? What are the consequences of doing terrible things "for the greater good"? Even the baddies motivation is simplified to moronic levels.

Ultimately, like the French film 7 Days, this is another failed attempt to examine parents' reactions to a crisis involving their own children. And unfortunately, Prisoners is much the poorer effort of the two.