I didn’t write a single review in October, and that was due to Prisoners, a movie which I am still internally debating.  On the one hand, it is a suspenseful thriller, dealing with the mysterious disappearances of two children, and how that awful situation brings out the worst in one of the fathers (Hugh Jackman).  The film’s power derives from Jackman’s very understandable reaction, exposing how easily a civilized person can lose control to his emotions.  As a thriller, Prisoners reminded me a bit of Zodiac, and not just because detective Jake Gyllenhaal is back on a case.  It’s a long, densely plotted movie that, by design and necessity, keeps the audience in the dark about many things.

And that’s the other hand, the one that doesn’t work for me.  There is a specific character who appears during the movie, becomes integral to the story, and deflects suspicion away from the real villain.  From the day I saw the film I just could not get a handle on that person; it just doesn’t make any logical sense to me.  I should have just gone back and seen it again, but at 2 1/2 hours and with several brutal torture scenes, I just couldn’t force myself to experience it again.

Denis Villanueve’s movie is taut, appropriately gloomy-looking and unapologetically graphic.  But it is also confusingly ambiguous at key moments (doubtless to keep the audience guessing), randomly weird at times (what’s with the snakes?), infuriatingly obtuse when dealing with specific characters (especially the priest, who ought to be spilling his guts; and how could not have known the identity of the person in his hidden cellar, even afterward?), and finishes so abruptly that I still cannot explain exactly what happened to myself.  Better editing would definitely have helped.

Ultimately I think this is a nearly good movie, that perhaps may improve upon a second viewing.  I know I’ll have to see it again because every time I think about it I am bothered by not fully understanding it.  I didn’t want to write about it in such a state, but it was holding up my other reviews, so I am publicly admitting my lack of comprehension on the matter.  Maybe it’s me, but I also blame the filmmaker for the lack of clarity and focus such a story needs as closure.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  8 November 2013.