[xrr rating=4.5/5]
For me, there are two types of films. Some movies flow into your skull for the two hours that you’re sitting in the theatre and then they escape right after you leave. Then there are a select few films that stay with you long after you’ve left your trash behind for the ushers to clean up.
Which brings me to my point. Why the hell don’t you guys clean up after yourselves? What the hell is going on here? Sure, I understand if you drop your popcorn, I know you can’t be picking that stuff up, but why not grab your empty cups and popcorn bags. I know you guys, you’d never leave your Yoo-hoo’s and Smartfood on your livingroom floor after you finished watching “Die Hard 4”, would you? So why don’t we just do what “Woodsie the Owl” always taught us, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute!” Which brings me to my second point. Why the hell can’t I even get through a paragragh without jumping off topic. Is it because I care about movie theatre pollution? Or maybe it’s because I always want things to be perfect when I go to the theatre. Or maybe, just maybe, I’m a complete mental case that needs some sort of prescription drugs to get me through the day. Hey, I’m a big proponent of “better living through chemistry”.
Well, whatever it is, I sure hope I can get it under control at some point.
Which brings me to my third point. (which is actually my first point) Some movies stay with you long after you leave the theatre. I’ll give you a few from this year. “42”, “Mud”, “Fruitvale Station”, “World War Z” and yeah, even “Spring Breakers” were films that I left the theatre and was thinking about three or four days later.
I love dumb movies. No brainers. Movies that just entertain you. But right now I’m talking about movies that make you think. And I’ve found the latest film that does just that.
“Prisoners” is a thinking mans movie.
You know what? Until only a month ago I really hadn’t heard anything on this film. But it did wonderfully at the Toronto Film Festival and its strong word of mouth has pushed it to the forefront of this weekends box office. It will win the weekend with around 20 million dollars in ticket sales. (and 12 dollars of that is mine.)
“Prisoners” is about two families (The Dover’s and The Birch’s) spending Thanksgiving dinner together, when their youngest daughters go out to play and end up getting kidnapped.
Police Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a quiet, but determined officer trying to find these children before they wind up dead.
Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is the father of one of the daughters. He feels that the police have not done enough with the suspect that they have captured, so he takes matters into his own hands.
The story is not cut and dry though. There are so many miniscule characters in this film that you seem to forget about them until you realize that they are major components of the story. Also, there are layers upon layers of sub-stories that keep you thinking throughout the entire film. There are bit parts that turn out to be incredibly major pieces to the plot. To be honest, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there may have been TOO MUCH going on at some points for me to keep up. But I guess that when I see it again I’ll be able to figure it out.
Do you know what made this film work? The acting. Viola Davis and Terrence Howard played the parents of one of the kidnapping victims. They were called Mr. And Mrs. Birch. Both are great character actors and I’ve especially been a big fan of Terrence Howard. (Crash, Fighting, Ironman) In this movie they have two daughters. I do wish they had a son though, because then he would have been a “Son of a Birch”.
Paul Dano plays the slow, soft spoken suspect in the film. And he takes a beating. This film has a sub-story that revolves around vigilantism and torture… and he’s on the short end of the stick on that one. Poor kid. Now, I’ve been saying for a long time that Paul Dano has a career in Hollywood. He played Klitz in a great, underated film called “The Girl Next Door”. He stepped it up in “Little Miss Sunshine”. But where he won me over was with his role as Eli Sunday in my #1 movie of 2007, “There Will Be Blood”. He was fantastic in that and he was great in this also.
Jake Gyllenhaal was great as a seemingly quiet, loner, police detective. I’ve always liked his acting chops, and he didn’t disappoint here. I did have one little blip with his character though. He’s a clean cut, slicked back hair, shirt buttoned all the way to the top type guy, yet he had a neck tattoo of what looked to be the Seattle Mariners compass emblem on him, and knuckle tats too. It just didn’t seem to fit his character. But no biggie.
Now these next two actors knocked it out of the park.
Melissa Leo. She can transform into any character directors ask her to be. Old, young, pretty, or ugly. She gets into her roles so well that every movie I’ve seen with her in it, I’ve had to wait until they rolled credits to see who it was. She is a great actress. (see: “The Fighter”. I had no idea it was her.)
And Hugh Jackman. I’m not joking here, this man could be the best actor in Hollywood. What CAN’T this guy do? He can play Jean Valjean in “Les Mis”. (and he can sing.) He can play the rough, gruff, tough superhero Wolverine in “X-Men”. He can play a complete tool in the film “Kate and Leopold”. And he can even do comedy, playing an oblivious man who has genitals on his chin in the epic film “Movie 43”. But being serious right now, Jackman lights up the screen as a desperate father trying by any means to get his daughter back. Great job by you, Hugh.
The only problem I had with his character though was that his name was “Mr. Dover”. Now, I know that I am an immature banana-head, but whenever I heard the name “Dover” during the movie, I kept thinking his first name was Ben… Ben Dover. Hahaha! Yeah, I know I’m being juvenile, but ever since the second grade I’ve always thought the name “Ben Dover” was the funniest name ever. So whenever his name was spoken in the movie, I chuckled.
I am apologizing now, in advance, to anyone who reads my articles that happens to go by the name Ben Dover… I’m sorry… I’m sorry you have a ridiculously funny name!
One more little nugget of information about this film. Do you know who executive produced it? Mark Wahlberg.
And do you know who had nothing to do with the making of this film? The Funky Bunch.
So in closing, let’s sum up this article . When you’re leaving the theatre, pick up your rubbish and throw it in the recepticles by the exits. Ben Dover is a wildly hilarious name. And, I, Matty W. Kelley, professional movie reviewer, loved this film.
If you want to see a movie that’ll have you thinking about it for the next week, I strongly suggest you see “Prisoners”.
Matty W. Kelley, A Seat Apart Productions, reporting.
Fun Fact: Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to this film for a long time, but eventually dropped out. Christian Bale and Wahlberg were also set to star in this film at one point, but the idea was dropped.
Fun Matty Fact: I’ve been keeping this on the down-low for a while now, but it’s time for me to tell you that at the end of this month I’ll be taking my talents to Hollywood to set up shop and put Norwood Patch on the map. I mean, the movie industry is great here, but honestly, how many times can I interview my brother Colin about the films that are playing at Showcase Dedham? I got to get down and dirty in La-La Land where all the pudding is hitting the fan. I got to get to the movie industry mecca. It’s time for “A Seat Apart Productions” to spread their wings and fly. Fly right into the industry that I love and see what I can do out there. I want to work in the movies and I think it’s time I give it a shot.
My motto is, and has always been “Life is short and then you’re dead, so do something before you’re dead.”… (Yeah-yeah, I know, it’s not that catchy of a motto, but I like it.)
Oh, and to all seven of my loyal readers, don’t you worry, I’ll still be writing reviews for the Norwood Patch from out there… You can take The Irish Assassin out of Norwood, but you can’t take Norwood out of The Irish Assassin… I love this town.