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Created Sep 27, 2013 10:13PM PST • Edited Apr 26, 2016 05:52PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   Not as good as it thinks it is or was cracked up to be, Prisoners nonetheless proves to be an involving, impressive and ultimately satisfying thriller. It’s worth being imprisoned inside a theater for 2½ hours.

   Yet sleazy storytelling-tricks weigh it down and a grimly enthusiastic desire to manipulate the emotions of both its characters and audience gets old. Hey, visibly manipulating characters is well and good. That’s one reason we go to the movies. Obviously manipulating those us beyond the fourth wall? Not good.

   Hugh Jackman leads a first-class cast and is more than good essaying a Father driven mad by the kidnapping of his little daughter. Mr. Australia sure has mastered the art of the Angry Face, screwing it up to damn near Wolverine levels as he strives to save his child.

   How does Prisoners compare to other child abduction movies? It’s significantly better than The Lovely Bones and not nearly as good as Changeling. All entail heavy wading.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Hugh Jackman doesn’t make a false move as a strong family man thrust into unimaginable duress. Maria Bello matches up well with him as his wife. Her descent into sedated grief is especially well played.

   Terrence Howard and especially Viola Davis are also more than solid as the parents of the other kidnapped girl. Howard, however, underwhelms. He’s never going to be a legitimate leading man.

   Their kids don’t get much screen time, but are quietly affecting when they do appear, especially Dylan Minnette. The others include Zoe Borde, along with little Erin Gerasimovich and Kyla Drew Simmons.

   Jake Gyllenhaal is strong – albeit less impressive than Jackman – as a committed Detective also tortured by the case. Oddly enough, his name is Loki, in a movie just before the latest Thor premieres.

   Melissa Leo and Paul Dano are oddly effective as a weird guy and his kindly Aunt.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

   Jackman is nearly Perfect, Gyllenhaal less so.

6. Female Stars Great 4.0

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    Good 3.0

    Evil sets off ripples of corruption, with many characters not being what they appear. This steps right up to the line of being tedious. Worse, several turnabouts are telegraphed or insufficiently convincing, making it clear that writer Aaron Guzikowski and director Denis Villeneuve are obviously manipulating us. Boo.

    Plus the movie is too long at 153 minutes. It never drags, but does sickly turn the screw a time too many. Enough already with the false climaxes.

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

12. Play Good 3.0

    Aaron Guzikowski is a name to remember. First he adapted an Icelandic movie into the very solid Mark Wahlberg vehicle Contraband. Now he’s written this very strong film from scratch. Yes, his script has missteps, but is still damn impressive.

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5

    Georgia stands in for Pennsylvania, which is interesting because they get the plain winter look of PA just right.

    • 14 stunt doubles
    • 27 stunt drivers
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.5

    Not for the faint of heart, Prisoners tells an outlandish tale about the kidnapping of two little girls. Brutality ensues.

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

18. Violence Brutal 3.3

19. Rudeness Profane 3.1

21. Reality

    Surreal 2.2

    Prisoners suffers from several clumsy CircoReality tricks, leading to an unwillingness to suspend disbelief.

    • A guy with the mind of a ten-year-old drives an RV around town. We’re then informed that “He has a State of Pennsylvania drivers license.” Hey, I took that test. Wasn’t hard, but an intellectually disabled guy isn’t passing it.
    • The prime suspect in a child abduction gets released after 48 hours. Really?
    • A unique piece of physical evidence obviously matches similar things from another crime scene, yet no connection is made.

    Movie reality aside, Prisoners respects the good people at its core, notwithstanding that they cling to their guns and religion. Bravo.

    Finally, some see the story as being about what a father will do outside the law to save his child. More to the point, it is a story about how the threat of justice denied opens the door to vigilantism.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.6

23. Biological Glib 2.0

24. Physical Surreal 2.1