Prisoners

Plot: Two girls are kidnapped, and Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) investigates. One of the girl's fathers, Keller Davis (Hugh Jackman), tries to find the girls his own way using torture.  There is time for many suspects, deadends, and plot twists. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Intense. So much high emotion so often. And Oh! the torture scene was awful-- I had my fingers over my face. This is a top thriller -- at least I'd think so if I could get that torture scene out of my head. 

And thoughtful. When is it OK to torture someone? Maybe if two young girl's life's hang in the balance? It reminds me of Jack Bauer on 24 torturing terrorists to get secrets. What if you have the wrong guy? What about killing someone to prevent that person from killing innocent people? Prisoners has many pairs of prisoners and jailers, and sometimes trading places. Very clever writing from the fairly new writer Aaron Guzikowski. 

Well directed from young director Denis Villeneuve.  Great performance from Jake Gyllenhaal -- I loved it. Photography pretty standard. The soundtrack was dull. The set decoration was interesting because it was so realistic. 

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Written by: Aaron Guzikowski

Rating: 3.0 stars:  A top thriller, but too intense for most people; including me. It would have been a top movie at 3.5 stars, but I dropped it 1/2 due to the torture scene.  

 

More [SPOILER]: The priest killed a man to prevent him from killing children; was that the right thing to do?

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