Prisoners review: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal star in a brilliant whodunit

Dennis Villeneuve’s Prisoners is a meditation upon many things, like the effect of power, how every action has an equal and opposite reaction, whether the end really does justify the means and whether physical torture can be justified. It is also proof that if a film has a well-plotted script, it can hold viewer attention without rendering men shirtless and showing women as sex objects. Because when the script is as good as Aaron Guzikowski’s is for Prisoners, then an audience will focus on nothing but the story, even though they are being faced with the combined deliciousness of actors like Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Terence Howard. [caption id=“attachment_1139243” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image: Official Facebook page[/caption] Prisoners has an outstanding cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terence Howard, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano. It’s a line-up that radiates excellence and each of these actors’ powerful performances are backed by a supporting cast that is equally solid. On paper, that’s the only thing about about Prisoners that seems compelling, since Villeneuve is a young director with only one talked about film to his name (Incendies). If anything, the idea of a film about child abduction set in a depressing, non-descript American town probably sounds a little off-putting to most. Add to that a father who, with righteous zeal and desperation, takes someone prisoner and tortures him because he’s convinced the police’s politically-correct, non-violent interrogations aren’t enough to make criminals spill their guts, and it’s not a film that screams ‘general entertainment’. But barring a few shots, Prisoners is precisely that. The ideological debates and philosophical frills are secondary. It is, first and foremost, a brilliant whodunit. Two families, the Dovers and the Birches, meet for Thanksgiving. Both families have two little girls, who go off to play together but don’t come home. The only clue the police have is Alex Jones (Dano), a young man who seems mentally challenged. While Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) investigates different suspects, hoping to find the girls before it’s too late, Keller Dover (Jackman) decides to go after the leads that he thinks Loki is ignoring. Neither Loki nor Dover seem to make any headway, but both of them soldier on, powered by hope and their conviction in their own abilities to find the truth. Villeneuve’s masterful direction matches Guzikowski’s maze of a plot, making Prisoners gripping from the very first minute. You care for the characters and feel the families’ grief immediately. Within seconds, Gyllenhaal as the gruff Loki has you cheering for him. The red herrings are perfectly placed (although the loose ends get tied a little too neatly in the end). Cinematographer Roger Deakins (A Beautiful Mind, No Country for Old Men, Revolutionary Road) has a particular talent for revealing the dark undercurrents of suburban America, and it’s in evidence in Prisoners. The town that’s blandly pretty by day becomes a menacing place of shadows, gloom and flickering light by night. The transformation makes you wonder which of its residents undergo a similar change. Which of the shocked or grief-struck faces is actually a mask for a child abductor’s smugness? At some more cruel, harrowing moments, you may cover your eyes or desperately go through your phone messages in an effort to distract yourself from the brutality being shown, but you will not be able to leave Prisoners. When the film ends, you’ll wish it had gone on a little longer, if not for the comfort of all questions being answered, then for the pleasure of watching Jackman and Gyllenhaal’s fantastic performances. If you think the ending is frustratingly open-ended, then watch David Fincher’s Zodiac. It’ll make you more appreciative of the comfort that Villeneuve offers his viewers at the end of Prisoners.