Rent Prisoners (2013)
3.7 of 5 from 877 ratings
2h 27min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
How far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones, but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts, knowing his child's life is at stake the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family? - Actors:
- Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoë Soul, Erin Gerasimovich, Kyla Drew Simmons, Wayne Duvall, Len Cariou, David Dastmalchian, Brad James, Anthony Reynolds, Robert C. Treveiler, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Victoria Staley, Todd Truley
- Directors:
- Denis Villeneuve
- Producers:
- Kira Davis, Broderick Johnson, Adam Kolbrenner, Andrew A. Kosove
- Writers:
- Aaron Guzikowski
- Others:
- Roger A. Deakins
- Studio:
- E1 Entertainment
- Genres:
- Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Films & TV by topic, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Viola Davis, Thanksgiving and Film!, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 03/02/2014
- Run Time:
- 153 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Every Moment Matters
- Powerful Performances
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Reviews (11) of Prisoners
two thirds of an interesting thriller - Prisoners review by PC
It is a real shame that the makers decided to jump from an interesting drama regarding how you deal with a loss of a child to a seriously contrived conventional thriller by the end.
The acting is first rate, especially from Jake Gyllenhall who adds layers to the role of the cop investigating the disappearance. It is at the very least 30 minutes too long and just adds twist after twist until it loses all understanding of what was making the film interesting.
A shame really, but Gone Baby Gone is a much better film that tackles a similar subject.
4 out of 5 members found this review helpful.
Does the end justify the means? - Prisoners review by Steve
Lengthy but gripping kidnapping drama is quite bleak for a mainstream American film. Well acted, particularly by Paul Dano in a support role. Slow to get moving but imaginative and empathetic once in its stride, while not giving up all of its secrets. Note: such a realistic recreation of child abduction has the power to be quite upsetting.
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Watchable -but could have been made a lot better - Prisoners review by CP Customer
Better editing could have cut the viewing time down as this movie is way to long for its content which towards the end loses the viewers interest as you end up feeling that you just want it to finish instead of wanting to see more.
Can't complain about the quality of the acting especially from the lead actors.
Other movie makers have covered this subject matter better, but give it a go and decide for yourself.
2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
Prisoners review by George Hooper - Cinema Paradiso
There are many movies out there that think they are smarter than they actually are. Lucky Number Slevin for instance treats its audience like idiots until the predictable end. However at least Slevin is a fun romp, Prisoners treats its audience like they are morons and forces them to sit through an overly long, needlessly dark story of family and forced religious symbolism.
The film follows the story of Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), a father whose daughter goes missing along with another child in the neighbourhood. When police detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) cannot track down the kidnapper, Keller takes matters into his own hands and handles his own investigation, including discovering what a mentally handicapped man (Paul Dano) who was hanging around his house knows, by any means possible.
Filled with a plethora of highly respected and talented actors, Prisoners concentrates heavily on the psychological impact this kidnapping has had on them from Keller’s devolution into something vindictive and violent to Terrence Howard’s Franklin forgetting his moral life and his relationship with god for the sake of his child. Melissa Leo and Viola Davis also pop up for memorable cameos but the weight of the films story revolves around the corruption of Keller.
Jackman is fantastic as the unhinged father and Gyllenhaal makes a very physical and imposing detective. The real problem with Prisoners isn’t its actors, it’s the films story, a mess of predictable Law & Order tropes disguised as smart writing. As the film progresses the end becomes increasingly obvious as the films tense and atmospheric buildup gives way to cookie cutter dialogue and actions. The films police presence make the cops in Super Troopers look smart, something I never thought possible.
In fact the film's story really ends about 40 minutes into this almost 3 hour picture as the real killer emerges through a collection of badly sequenced clues. The films editing also proceeds to ruin what could have been a tense crime drama as it concentrates too heavily on the character beats. While you may be impressed by Jackman and the other strong character performances there is nothing here worth mentioning in terms of story.