Prisoners the masterful suspense thriller that will send Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve to Hollywood s upper ranks is proof positive that genre filmmaking can tackle the unlikeliest most unpalatable subjects.
And that Hugh Jackman has been frittering away too much time in Wolverine drag.
Jackman and co star Jake Gyllenhaal lead a superb cast and score career bests in this provocative tale of abducted children and parents pushed beyond limits.
Written by Aaron Guzikowski ( Contraband ) and gorgeously photographed in leafless autumn shades by Roger Deakins Prisoners begins on a drizzly Thanksgiving in suburban Pennsylvania.
Two families are sharing the holiday when their youngest kids six year old Anna and seven year old Joy wander outside to look for a missing toy.
Prisoners wastes little time in the set up The families (and the audience) grasp the gravity immediately educated all too well in the depressingly familiar routines that follow this particular headline.
Candlelight vigils arrive on cue.
But what begins as a well observed look from inside the nightmare takes a strange singular turn when distraught father Keller Dover (Jackman) becomes convinced for good reason that a young mentally challenged neighbor (Paul Dano) is the kidnapper.
The investigating detective (Gyllenhaal soulful and obsessed) can t gather enough evidence to hold him.
Aware that each passing day lessens the likelihood of finding the girls alive Dover kidnaps and tortures the suspected kidnapper.
Assisting the father are the other grieving parents beautifully played by Terrence Howard and especially Viola Davis. (The race issue one family is white the other black is addressed only by the absence of discussion). Tellingly Dover is a deer hunting food hoarding survivalist his basement fortified for every tragedy but the one that strikes.
Rounding out the impeccable cast is Maria Bello whose Grace Dover upends our expectations of a mother s ferocity and Melissa Leo as the bedraggled protective aunt who raised the suspect.
To reveal much more would rob Prisoners of its power but the squeamish should be warned that Dover s desperate brutality is as graphically portrayed as anything in Zero Dark Thirty.
In mood tone and pacing though the two and a half hour Prisoners more closely recalls David Fincher s dark under appreciated serial killer epic Zodiac. That one also starred Gyllenhaal and was along with Brokeback Mountain the actor s high water mark. Until now.
Prisoners from Warner Bros. Pictures is playing across the U.S. Rating (Evans)
Rush RazzleThough it sputters in its final laps Ron Howard s race car drama Rush taps state of the art digital razzle dazzle and the director s crowd pleasing know how.
Based on the 1970s rivalry between Formula 1 champs James Hunt and Niki Lauda the film stars Chris Hemsworth ( The Avengers ) as Hunt the British playboy with a rock star s shaggy mane and live fast lifestyle.
He introduces himself to awestruck women with a Bond like Hunt. James Hunt.
Daniel Bruhl is Lauda an Austrian with blue blood a Freddie Mercury overbite and the personality of a dipstick.
The film s women Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Maria Lara are on hand mostly to adore fret and chastise.
With The Queen and Frost/Nixon on his resume screenwriter Peter Morgan knows how to render recent history with pathos and a light comic touch.
And Howard who began his directing career with the fast car drive in classic Grand Theft Auto has an aficionado s ear for revved engines and whooshing chassis.
Despite vivid performances the drivers themselves remain little more than mouthpieces for their lifestyle philosophies.
Rush from Universal Studios is playing in select theaters and opens across the U.S. September 27. Rating 1/2 (Evans)
Enough SaidMiddle aged dating is the kind of squirm inducing subject that was made for Nicole Holofcener a writer director whose satirical comedies ( Friends With Money and the very funny Please Give among them) are typically gentle eviscerations of affluent liberals.
In Enough Said Julia Louis Dreyfus and James Gandolfini play Eva and Albert divorced parents on the verge of becoming empty nesters (and bereft about it) who hit it off at a party.
At the same party Eva who s a masseuse meets a swanning poet named Marianne (Holofcener s go to neurotic Catherine Keener playing a wildly different kind of role this time). She soon becomes a client and a confidante. Only after a while does Eva figure out that Marianne is Albert s ex wife.
This sitcom setup mars an otherwise sly and lovely film. The situation could easily be resolved with a word or two but like all such theatrical contrivances it s painfully extended in order to provide maximum humiliation when the truth emerges.
Still Louis Dreyfus is endearingly funny as a mess of insecurities and the late great Gandolfini was never more supremely tender. Eva asks herself how she can be falling in love with this fat lummoxy slob. Nobody in the audience will wonder why.
Enough Said from Fox Searchlight Pictures is playing in New York and Los Angeles. Rating 1/2 (Seligman)
After TillerChronicling the embattled lives of America s four remaining late term abortion providers the documentary After Tiller is an antidote to right wing rhetoric and media demonization.
Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson After Tiller makes no show of abortion debate balance. (The title refers to Dr. George Tiller the third trimester abortion provider murdered at his Kansas church in 2009).
The four physicians all of whom participated with the filmmakers are presented as the last hope of women in extreme circumstances.
Often (though certainly not always) the pregnant women have just received diagnoses of harrowing birth defects.
After Tiller occasionally overplays its hand with mawkish music and tearful hugs but its unflinching portrayal of what can only be called battle fatigue is indelible.
After Tiller from Oscilloscope Laboratories is playing in New York. Rating (Evans)
What the Stars Mean Fantastic Excellent Good So So Poor (No stars) Avoid(Greg Evans and Craig Seligman are critics for Muse the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are their own.)
Muse highlights include Jeremy Gerard on theater and New York Weekend.
To contact the writers on the story Greg Evans at gregeaevans yahoo.com and Craig Seligman at cseligman mindspring.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff bloomberg.net.
Enlarge image 'Prisoners'2013 Alcon Entertainment LLC/Warner Bros. Pictures via Bloomberg
Jake Gyllenhaal with Hugh Jackman plays a detective searching for two missing girls in Prisoners. The film is written by Aaron Guzikowski.
Jake Gyllenhaal with Hugh Jackman plays a detective searching for two missing girls in Prisoners. The film is written by Aaron Guzikowski. Source 2013 Alcon Entertainment LLC/Warner Bros. Pictures via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'Prisoners'2013 Alcon Entertainment LLC/Warner Bros. Pictures via Bloomberg
Viola Davis and Terrence Howard confront a nightmare in Prisoners. The film is directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Viola Davis and Terrence Howard confront a nightmare in Prisoners. The film is directed by Denis Villeneuve. Source 2013 Alcon Entertainment LLC/Warner Bros. Pictures via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'Rush'Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Studios via Bloomberg
Chris Hemsworth third from left and Daniel Bruhl behind the wheel in far background in Rush. The film from Universal Studios is playing in select theaters and opens across the U.S. Sept. 27.
Chris Hemsworth third from left and Daniel Bruhl behind the wheel in far background in Rush. The film from Universal Studios is playing in select theaters and opens across the U.S. Sept. 27. Photographer Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Studios via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'Rush'Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Studios via Bloomberg
Daniel Bruhl as Formula 1 champ Niki Lauda in Rush. The film directed by Ron Howard is based on a true story.
Daniel Bruhl as Formula 1 champ Niki Lauda in Rush. The film directed by Ron Howard is based on a true story. Photographer Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Studios via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'Rush'Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Studios via Bloomberg
Chris Hemsworth left and Daniel Bruhl in Rush. The film recounts the real life 1970s rivalry between racers James Hunt Hemsworth and Niki Lauda Bruhl.
Chris Hemsworth left and Daniel Bruhl in Rush. The film recounts the real life 1970s rivalry between racers James Hunt Hemsworth and Niki Lauda Bruhl. Photographer Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Studios via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'Enough Said'Lacey Terrell/Fox Searchlight Pictures via Bloomberg
James Gandolfini and Julia Louis Dreyfus in Enough Said. The film is written and directed by Nicole Holofcener.
James Gandolfini and Julia Louis Dreyfus in Enough Said. The film is written and directed by Nicole Holofcener. Photographer Lacey Terrell/Fox Searchlight Pictures via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'Enough Said'Colleen Hayes/Fox Searchlight Pictures via Bloomberg
Catherine Keener in Enough Said. The film from Fox Searchlight Pictures is playing in New York and Los Angeles.
Catherine Keener in Enough Said. The film from Fox Searchlight Pictures is playing in New York and Los Angeles. Photographer Colleen Hayes/Fox Searchlight Pictures via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'After Tiller'Oscilloscope Laboratories via Bloomberg
Dr. Susan Robinson in her Albuquerque clinic in New Mexico in After Tiller. The film from Oscilloscope Laboratories is playing in New York.
Dr. Susan Robinson in her Albuquerque clinic in New Mexico in After Tiller. The film from Oscilloscope Laboratories is playing in New York. Source Oscilloscope Laboratories via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'After Tiller'Oscilloscope Laboratories via Bloomberg
Dr. Warren Hern seen mid embrace in After Tiller. He is one of four late term abortion providers profiled in the documentary.
Dr. Warren Hern seen mid embrace in After Tiller. He is one of four late term abortion providers profiled in the documentary. Source Oscilloscope Laboratories via Bloomberg
Enlarge image 'After Tiller'Anti abortion protesters in After Tiller. The film is directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson. Souurce Oscilloscope Laboratories via Bloomberg
Anti abortion protesters in After Tiller. The film is directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson. Souurce Oscilloscope Laboratories via Bloomberg
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