Prisoners

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

    

by Frederick William Springer III

 

Prisoners

Release Date:  20 September 2013                                              Runtime:  153 Minutes              

Review Date:  24 November 2013                                               Rating:  4 (of 6)

      Prisoners was a good film with compelling performances by Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Terrance Howard and Viola Davis.  Even though it ran rather long, it didn't feel it.

     The director (Denis Villeneuve) chose some interesting shots that didn't particular move the plot, for example, a lingering close up of a tree in the foreground with a house in the background as we hear the occupants enjoying their Thanksgiving inside.  There was no significance to the tree in the movie and I don't think trees are particularly ominous.

     While there are layers of mystery to unravel, most of my initial suspicions proved true.

     The ending was open-ended with a slam to black, which was somewhat annoying, after investing 2 and a half hours of my time.  An educated guess about what happened, at least to some degree, can probably be made due to our knowledge of the characters and what transpires just beforehand but it would have been nice if it were a little more conclusive.