As many reviewers have pointed out this is not a new idea. Prisoners did it and did it extremely well. This doesn't even hold a candle to Prisoners. That being said, it is a very effective thriller with a lot of mood and great cinematography. It utilizes the cold and very bleak Canadian North to really put you in the mood of the emotions in the film. The issue is that Atom Egoyan has a reputation of being an "artsy" sort of film maker. I have hardly seen any of his work but I know what he aims to do. I saw nearly the exact same problem when watching his film Devil's Knot last year. That film should have been an amazing thriller based on an incredibly fascinating crime but it was stumbling and slow and missed the point. The Captive does the same sort of errors. It seems like a simple story about how losing their daughter sends a couple spiralling and two police detectives struggle to close the case when it becomes apparent the child is still alive. Then for some reason the story becomes complex and twisted and jumps back and forth in time and throws turns at you that don't make sense and by the end of the film you just don't even understand who is who or what is going on. There is nothing wrong with how the film is made, its just that Egoyan tries too hard to make this unique fascinating piece of art instead of focusing on a story.
Ryan Reynolds is one of my favourite young actors and he has been for years. He is extremely versatile and I love seeing him in this type of role when he does comedy so well. He also does high intensity emotion very well and playing a distraught father suits him. He definitely is a big reason to see this though he sort of takes a back seat in the middle of the film for some reason. He is great in the film. Mireille Enos is decent as his wife who also shows some great emotion in her scenes. Reynolds is significantly better than she is though and their chemistry isn't great so she is just okay. Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman are the two detectives involved in the case. They are both okay but very underdeveloped characters. I feel like there is so much more there (think Gyllenhaal in Prisoners) but they mostly ignore them as characters. Both could have been very good if more time had been spent focusing on them. Kevin Durand certainly has the perfect look down for playing the creepy psychopath that has taken their daughter. Durand doesn't get a lot of time to establish his character but he looks the part and that goes a long way. Alexia Fast plays their daughter in the future (oldest version of her) and is okay but seems almost monotone at times but that could be attributed to her situation. Certainly Reynolds is the absolute highlight of the cast and the film.
What should be a very taut thriller has an awful lot of plot holes and patching done. Patching by ignoring certain details or rushing through a lot of things. The film feels very slapped together in many ways. Its one of those movies (and I see a lot of them like this) that has so much potential and you can see that but it only makes the mistakes even more glaring. The ending climax really picks up and there is an exhilarating car chase and then after that it was like someone yelled "We're out of money" and they through all pages out except the last one and filmed it quick and movie over. Never mind the biggest fact that you're supposed to buy that this girl is missing for 5-7 years-ish but no one looks even remotely different other than her who has doubled in age (but goes right back out to the ice rink when she gets home.) It is an extremely mediocre effort for Egoyan and probably only worth a four or five out of ten but Ryan Reynolds gives it a slight boost and it wasn't a total waste of an evening. If you're a fan of his then its worth seeing, otherwise Prisoners buries this film. 6/10
Ryan Reynolds is one of my favourite young actors and he has been for years. He is extremely versatile and I love seeing him in this type of role when he does comedy so well. He also does high intensity emotion very well and playing a distraught father suits him. He definitely is a big reason to see this though he sort of takes a back seat in the middle of the film for some reason. He is great in the film. Mireille Enos is decent as his wife who also shows some great emotion in her scenes. Reynolds is significantly better than she is though and their chemistry isn't great so she is just okay. Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman are the two detectives involved in the case. They are both okay but very underdeveloped characters. I feel like there is so much more there (think Gyllenhaal in Prisoners) but they mostly ignore them as characters. Both could have been very good if more time had been spent focusing on them. Kevin Durand certainly has the perfect look down for playing the creepy psychopath that has taken their daughter. Durand doesn't get a lot of time to establish his character but he looks the part and that goes a long way. Alexia Fast plays their daughter in the future (oldest version of her) and is okay but seems almost monotone at times but that could be attributed to her situation. Certainly Reynolds is the absolute highlight of the cast and the film.
What should be a very taut thriller has an awful lot of plot holes and patching done. Patching by ignoring certain details or rushing through a lot of things. The film feels very slapped together in many ways. Its one of those movies (and I see a lot of them like this) that has so much potential and you can see that but it only makes the mistakes even more glaring. The ending climax really picks up and there is an exhilarating car chase and then after that it was like someone yelled "We're out of money" and they through all pages out except the last one and filmed it quick and movie over. Never mind the biggest fact that you're supposed to buy that this girl is missing for 5-7 years-ish but no one looks even remotely different other than her who has doubled in age (but goes right back out to the ice rink when she gets home.) It is an extremely mediocre effort for Egoyan and probably only worth a four or five out of ten but Ryan Reynolds gives it a slight boost and it wasn't a total waste of an evening. If you're a fan of his then its worth seeing, otherwise Prisoners buries this film. 6/10