Stretches a bit long and gets a little predictable but features fine performances

Rating: 6/10 (8 December 2013)

Prisoners is like that one friend or comedian you know who's know who tells overly elaborate stories or jokes that you have to applaud for the effort if nothing else. Intentions seem to be in the right place, delivery is going smoothly, there's a handful of ups and downs that aren't terribly cliché but you swear you've heard one or two before, and when all is said and done you nod in approval and open the door knowing they'll be back soon in another form with another tale.
Comparisons to strange friends aside, Prisoners does its best to keep a child abduction story above Lifetime Movie levels. What does this is the acting of the two leads, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman, and the violence both on display and implied. Jackman convincingly continues down a rabbit hole of anger and frustration as a distressed father, and Gyllenhaal almost follows suite as the detective assigned to the case. Both elevate the material a bit, but neither can save it from the excessive runtime of 2 1/2 hours and a handful of mystery/suspense clichés. If it weren't for the cast and the caliber of acting the film wouldn't have made the splash it did when it was released.