Edge-of-the-Seat Thriller

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2013)

I saw "Prisoners", starring Hugh Jackman-Les Miserables-2012, Van Helsing; Jake Gyllenhaal-End of Watch, Brokeback Mountain; Terrence Howard-Red Tails, Big Momma's House; Maria Bello-Grown Ups, Coyote Ugly and Paul Dano-Cowboys & Aliens, There Will Be Blood.
This is a tense edge-of-the-seat thriller with some hidden surprises. Hugh and Maria are visiting their neighbors during the Thanksgiving holidays when something happens that every parent dreads. Their six year old daughter and the daughter of their friend Terrence disappear. After searching everywhere, the only clue is a suspicious looking RV that was seen in the neighborhood. The police are called in and Jake is the head detective; he has a reputation for solving all of his cases. Paul is spotted in the RV and arrested but no physical evidence is found of the missing girls. With no evidence, Paul is released which does not sit well with Hugh, who decides to take matters into his own hands. The question of how far a father would go to get his daughter back is explored and then you have the idea of whether Paul is even the right guy or not. Paul has a stunted mental capacity of a ten year old, and there are other suspects, so questions are raised. I thought it was also realistically portrayed how some people will turn to drinking or drug use to cope with the stress of a missing child. FYI: There is a scene, during an interrogation, that I could have sworn a policeman calls Jake by his real name-it was something like,'Let me know if you find out anything, Gyllenhaal.' Anyway, I enjoyed the movie but the ending was kind of off; It was kind of abrupt, as if they were trying to wrap it up. It is rated "R" for violence-including scenes of torture, language and drug/alcohol use and has a running time of 2 hours & 33 minutes. It was a nice thriller but I don't think that I would buy it on DVD-once was enough. It would be a good rental, though.