How far would you go to save your child?
Film Synopsis: After his six-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped on Thanksgiving, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) butts heads with detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) in charge of the investigation. After searching, Dover’s son mentions an old RV, owned by Alex Jones (Paul Dano). Feeling failed by the law, Dover captures Jones, the man he believes responsible, holding him captive in a desperate attempt to find out what he did with the girls, whom he is convinced are still alive. But the further he goes to get the man to confess, the closer he comes to losing his soul.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve and Written by Aaron Guzikowski
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, and Paul Dano
First Impressions: You had me at Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, but when you throw in the rest of this strong, all star cast you have my full attention. Although, the storyline alone has enough of a hook to pull me in. With so many remakes and every possible superhero movie, it’s rare to watch a trailer and think, “Whoa! I have to know how this movie ends!” But that was the exact reaction I felt after seeing the trailer for Prisoners.
Kidnappings in films are always intriguing. It brings mystery and the classic “who dun it” feel for audiences, allowing us to solve the case alongside the characters. And when kids are involved, we tend to empathize, usually wanting the parents to go to the extreme and take the law into their own hands. Films like Gone Baby Gone and Ransom, are great examples. And even though there wasn’t a kidnapping in Mystic River, Sean Penn going insane trying to find out who killed his daughter is what came straight to mind when I first saw this trailer. All three are great films and hopefully Prisoners will follow in their footsteps by giving us a thrilling, original ending. Besides being excited to see this movie, I’ll be very interested to see the response it gets during this upcoming awards season. For now, I’d love to hear what you guys think after watching the trailer below!
Prisoners makes its release in theaters on September 20, 2013.
