Very strong in some areas, weak in others

Rating: 6/10 (5 October 2013)

The strongest aspect of the film was the acting. Hugh Jackman knocked it out of the park. It was a shame the other actors weren't given bigger roles, fine as they are. It was atmospheric with a decent, subtle score as well. The atmosphere kept building so you felt like it was going to amount to something major, which it did and didn't.
There's something inherently dissatisfying at the heart of it. The detectives better accomplishments were completely by chance, when he was depicted to be a smart man. There were very simple things they could have done to have made him have to incorporate skill into using his chance realizations. For instance, if he hand't found the picture with the necklace on Holly's late husband, he could have just walked into the next room and discovered the truth, albeit too late. A simple reworking of this scene would have made it more satisfying, as the entire revelation about the dead husband/dead guy in priests basement, was semi-obvious to begin with.
Keller also failed when it counted most, and this is majorly disappointing after he went through such lengths to find his daughter. He also could have handled it much differently when he heard "he was there...we had tape on our mouths." If he fled because he thought he would become a suspect, this could have been better emphasized. Once captured, the whistle aspect could have again been used when Loki enters the house, sees the picture, and realizes Holly's identity.
Basically the entire last twenty minutes could have been reworked, I think, and the film would have been an 8 instead of a 6. I think its possible the movie had a very pro-christain initiative. We are meant to feel like Keller, not becoming a "devil" has Holly called him, and praying, lead to the finding of his daughter, and not losing his faith. The initiative to show this I think really diluted what could have been a very powerful noir film. I suggest Gone Baby Gone over this movie, if you want something similar but more satisfying in several ways. It has twists, moral studies, and great acting all the same, though Hugh Jackman really did nail it in this.