Prisoners (2013)

[baumer]

I think the motivation of the aunt was weak.  Just my opinion but that's the only part of the film I found to be very weak.

[ladyevenstar22]

I give the film an A , it was tense and creepy from beginning to ending and the  rain  really gave a sense of isolation and bleakness  i felt the cold !

At some points i was on the edge of my seat, others i was deep in it esp' torture scenes! this is not a movie where you stay quiet , lots of occasion for exclamations

 

that guy alex with his whispering voice ugh creepy i was on the fence as to whether he was innocent or not , he certainly had you wondering but then as baumer pointed out he would do things or say things that had you going huh did i hear what he actually said , at any rate he totally entertained the cloud of suspicion over his head 

 

i don't blame hugh jackman character for doing what he did , there are people who say they would do anything for their kids but when push comes to shove are they truly willing to put aside right from wrong and truly do anything , terrence howard did a pretty good job of not going over that line and being extremely upset about even being passively involved 

 

viola davis was good too , she didnt lose it completely like the other mom (one can argue she pushed her husband to do what he did , she was selfish in her grief blaming him for not protecting them from everything,who could have imagined this happening and so he felt compel to act , maybe he would have done it all the same but she give him the extra nudge IMO)

 

at some point i had random thoughts if the older siblings werent involved and just wanted to get rid , that's when it seemed alex wasn't involved at all and their a totally different suspect

said other suspect was creepy as shit going into their house , what was his deal ? does he get off going into people house whose kids are missing to collect memorabilia (that shit weirded me out to no end)

 

i couldnt get over the detective name being loki (too funny) and he had a quirky obsession with horoscope chinese or western with his tatoos on each finger , he did a good job even with the turd of a captain he had!

 

i def' did not see the time pass because i was so involved in the storytelling , never once looked at my phone to check the time 

 

i'm glad they found the girls but i was thinking more and more that they were probably dead, but when joy recognized keller and said you were there i was confused for like 5mn as he ran out of the hospital and det' loki went chasing after him its only when he appears at the aunt's house i was able to put in context her quote , there had been so many twist that i was like what the father kidnapped them now , lots of random thoughts went through my mind because i had no clues who did it for the longest time .

 

I know i'm not the only one who didn't make the link with the burned guy in the basement and the uncle disappearing i thought they were 2 unrelated events, and i didn't understand he disappeared so much as he walked out on her so why would i suspect he wasn't  dead , still why i didn't notice the pendant on the burned guy or remembered it the first time loki saw the uncle picture or even when the story got to point mazes where mentioned  alot

 

i suspect i'll notice more things when i watch it again when its out on dvd ! i'm not in love with the movie so no A+++ for me then again given the subject but a deserving A for getting my undivided attention and the thrilling atmosphere , a well directed film like Cmasterclay said it felt real 

 

and the ending pretty ironic symmetry that he should be kept prisoner as he kept her 'nephew' prisoner, albeit his stay won't be as bad or long as the other guy if we chose to believe he's rescued that same night 

[AlexaM]

Just saw this film last night and it was rough for me..... I have two young boys and already have some fears in the back of my mind about things like this happening.

 

That being said, I want to mention something that I notice a lot of folks saying is a foregone conclusion.

 

"Jackman gets rescued and goes to prison." Maybe, but maybe not.....

 

This could be a great courtroom drama all to itself. While the torture itself is hard to excuse, the truth is that the mentally challenged kid he was torturing DID know what happened with the girls. For whatever reason he wouldn't tell Hugh, but he DID know. Make no mistake about that. He even seemed to almost taunt Hugh in the parking lot with his comment and was also smart enough to know he should deny it when Jake asked him about it later. I have absolutely no sympathy for him at all and was 100% rooting for Hugh to ravage him.

 

For me this makes where the characters end up a lot more interesting.... I know the mentally challenged kid was "rescued" by Jake and returned to his family, but shouldn't he be held responsible for at least some part in it???

 

What jury is convicting Jackman when there is virtually NO doubt that the mentally challenged kid he tortured was definitely involved in the abduction of the kids???? I'm not necessarily saying what he did was lawful (obviously it wasn't), but is it possible a jury gives him a big sentence reduction where he does 30 days and then community service or something?

 

I would love to hear other folks opinions on this.....

[4815162342]

Judges, not juries, decide sentencing almost all the time. Jury nullification would happen either by finding Jackman not guilty or guilty of a lesser-included offense if given the option to.

 

And most crimes these days have mandatory minimums, so if Jackman was found guilty of kidnapping, assault, etc, there's no way he gets little to no jail time.

[baumer]

Yes, but a jury might be empathetic to him because of everything that Alexa M said.

[4815162342]

Yes, but a jury might be empathetic to him because of everything that Alexa M said.

 

Assuming it ever goes to trial. Something like 95% of cases are resolved by plea bargain before anyone ever sees a jury selection.

[baumer]

Assuming it ever goes to trial. Something like 95% of cases are resolved by plea bargain before anyone ever sees a jury selection.

 

I'm going to have to call BS on this one.  Do you have a link that corroborates this?

[DeeCee]

Fewer than 10 percent

ofthe criminal cases brought by the federal government each

year are actually tried before juries with all of the accompanying procedural safeguards noted above. More than 90 percent of the criminal cases in America are never tried, much less

proven, to juries. The overwhelming majority of individuals

who are accused of crime forgo their constitutional rights and

plead guilty

 

http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/2003/10/v26n3-7.pdf

[baumer]

I apologize numbers.That shocks me.

[DeeCee]

When you think about it it makes sense so many cases are settled because of the high monetary cost involved in a trial. Prosecutors usually have a strong case if they are prepared to take a case to trial. Defence Attorneys would know this so they would encourage their clients to plea bargain for a lessor sentence.

[kitik]

Just got back from Prisoners. Holy crap, what a powerful movie.

 

Incredible acting from Hugh, but for me, Jake was even more powerful. Wow. And all those beautiful shots of rain and snow. Awesome.

 

One thing I'll add to the conversation is that I'm not sure we should have gotten any motive at all. When you think about it, so many cases like this one are left unsolved with no answers for families and no real reasons known for the crime. People are just left to wonder and forced to deal with unanswered questions for the rest of their lives.

 

That said, wow, what a movie! Easily one of my favorites of the year.

[mattmav45]

Anyone else reminded of Silence of the Lambs?I fucking loved it. For me, there's nothing quite like a slow-burning character-driven crime drama heavy on tone and atmosphere with a heavy dose of macabre thrown in.Exceptional, my favorite of the year.Edit: In hindsight and after a night of sleep I realize I may have jumped the gun proclaiming this best of the year (Stoker remains king), but this is still a damn good film with smothering atmosphere.

Edited October 10, 2013 by mattmav45

[Charism]

Good, tense movie, with few little pacing problems, a little bit too long, and with fenomenal acting (Jackman, Gyllenhal, Dano), and amazing cinematography.Shame about music, really uninteresting.8.5/10

[Blankments]

It was pretty interesting, but it never really clicked with me (kinda like Gatsby earlier this year.) Very tense at points but very dull at others. Jackman was fantastic, Gyllenhaal was pretty good, and the overall cast was one of the best I've seen this year. Script could've been trimmed down a bit, and the cinematography was astounding at points. A-

[CJohn]

Saw it today. This movie has major script problems... and I am not talking about the ending. I didn't needed to see more. It was obvious he was going to find Jackman.

[Crusader]

I don't wanna go too deep into it but I agree with the majority 

 

Its an excellent movie albeit a bit flawed ... sorta like Spike Lee movies ... strong throughout but don't quite cut it in the last 15-20 minutes 

 

8/10 

 

excellent performances though 

[Goffe]

maybe I will watch this tomorrow

[acab]

One of the best films of the year so far. With excellent performances (Gyllenhaal was the high point for me), a brilliant script, full of suspense and mystery. Extremely atmospheric cinematography also. It had some pacing issues here and there but those are minor complaints. It kinda reminded me of Mystic River. I can see it having a real shot at actor, screenplay and cinematography nominations.

Edited October 28, 2013 by acab

[CoolioD1]

Deakins... 

 

 

Jake Gyllenhaal killed it too. Never been a huge fan of him before but this is easily his best work. Overall a strong movie. Can't say I felt the length like other people are saying. But it got a little more campy than maybe I wanted it to in the third act.

[LexJoker]

My only prob was with this movie was back of my mind, I kind of figured it out not just Alex but even his aunt was involved. Then Loki looking at past disappearances + the body on the father's basement who confessed he abducted 16 kids, and I was pretty sure it was Alex's so called uncle.

Maybe the impersonator guy angle was put on the script to force the viewer to give up their suspicion on the aunt, which I sure did when he was introduced.

But powerful performances, great visuals and the overall suspense over the girl's whereabouts still got me hooked throughout.

 

A