Unless you or your family have experienced it for yourself, you have absolutely no concept of the mental and physical stress people endure when the ultimate nightmare occurs- a missing child. And the nightmare is real. The whole world turns inside out, gravity has reversed, and you’re floating helplessly in a void of confusion and desperation. Normal activities like eating and sleeping are foreign. All you have on your mind is getting your son or daughter back.
Prisoners explores this frightening torment in small town America where ordinary hard working families like the Dovers and the Birch’s live in relative peace. Of course every city has crime problems. But despite looming overcast skies you feel that their minimal and the very thought of a child vanishing into thin air is impossible. It’s that tranquil. Both families have children, including young daughters who are the best of friends.
We know from the outset that Hugh Jackman’s Kelly Dover is a good father and husband. He believes in being prepared for anything-including an apocalypse. Unfortunately, he or his friend Franklin Birch( a terrific emotional turn by Terrence Howard) are totally unprepared for a personal apocalypse when their respective young daughters, Eliza and Joy vanish without a trace while making a short run to the Birch’s house. And the only clue the frantic Kelly has, is a mid size weathered RV that was parked a few blocks down the street where they live.
For his primary English language feature, French director Denis Villenueve has created an earnest American film which many of our people, or any other country’s people, can painfully identify with( I talked to one woman who told me she would not see Prisoners simply because of the subject matter). He naturally channels his stellar cast from happiness to stark panic coupled with all the brutal and psychological anxiety when one feels genuinely helpless. Those looming overcast skies become menacing.
Things for the families just get worse when ace Detective Loki (Jake Gylenhaal) must release the only viable suspect, Paul Dano’s Alex Jones, who was seen by the RV,which after a thorough, exhaustive search for any clues to the girls whereabouts turns up nothing. Hugh Jackman’s Kelly is understan-dably upset and in one scene you’re 100% sure those Wolverine admantium claws just might make a cameo appearance.
The Help’s Viola Davis and Maria Bello are the hapless wives Nancy and Grace,enduring the worst pain they’ve ever had in their lives. They’re at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Nancy is distressed but maintains an edgy control, which in turn grants her some radical leverage on handling the predicament. Grace is just distressed and on the brink of losing it.
Paul Dano as Alex Jones is especially edgy, a grown man with a psycholo-gical condition that makes him less of one. But only mentally. Dano injects the right amount of questionable innocence making you feel sympathy toward him and suspicious of him at the same time. He’s a boy in a man’s body.
Skyfall cinematographer Roger Deakins and production designer Patrice Vermette take full advantage of the Georgia locations subtle mystery and eeriness. Punctuated by ideal natural lighting inside and out, they aptly intensify your anxiety as well as the characters without any gratuitous pretensions. Coupled with engaging dialogue from Aaron Guzikowski, every scene from first to last is forged in suspense.
Even as Prisoners’ ensemble cast compels you to believe this real life tragedy, it is definitely Hugh Jackman’s heartrending performance that stands out. As Kelly Dover, he may be willing to go beyond the law, but still serves as a prime example of a dedicated father willing to sacrifice himself for the life of his child, if necessary.