I’ve always admired Hugh Jackman for how ridiculously talented he is – the guy can sing, he can dance, he can act (he can probably paint, write poetry, and play a dozen instruments, too). And while I knew he was a good actor, I didn’t know he was a great actor until I saw his anxiety-and-rage-filled performance in Prisoners. Jackman plays Keller Dover, a survivalist family man with a loving wife, a son, and a young daughter. When Dover’s daughter and her friend disappear on a dreary Thanksgiving afternoon, both affected families are paralyzed with fear and grief.
Lead investigator Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) has never lost a case and impresses upon the parents the need to let him do his work. Dover initially complies, until a suspicious young man (Paul Dano) seen in the area where the girls disappeared is questioned and released. Dover, convinced of the man’s guilt, decides to take matters into his own hands in order to get his daughter back. In a film filled with great performances — Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, and Maria Bello as grieving parents, Dano as the suspect, Melissa Leo as the suspect’s mother – Jackman and Gyllenhaal stand out for their portrayals of two intensely determined men.
Loki is single-minded in his desire to solve the case at hand. By the looks of it he has no family, friends, or personal life to speak of (his Thanksgiving is spent solo at a deserted Chinese restaurant) – his life is his work. With his shirt buttoned up to the top button, and an eye twitch that comes and goes, the driven detective sees his complex case made even more challenging when Dover starts acting suspiciously.
Jackman’s Dover is frightening to watch – here’s a man who prides himself on always being prepared for the worst (the family’s basement is a bunker filled with non-perishable food and supplies) finding himself completely powerless. The horrific actions he takes are an attempt to regain control of an impossible situation – and as viewers we’re forced to ask ourselves what we would do in his place. I’ve never seen a stronger performance from the Aussie actor on screen, and I’d be really surprised if he didn’t get an Oscar nomination for it.
Director Denis Villeneuve has proven in his past films (which include the Oscar-nominated Incendies, Polytechnique) that he’s excellent at creating tension, and Prisoners had the TIFF audience gasping audibly in certain scenes. And the story is taut – for a two-and-a-half-hour film, there’s not a wasted scene, a conversation that doesn’t need to be there. In terms of its bleak feel, and the sense of dread that permeates the film, I was reminded of David Fincher’s Seven and Zodiac. This is Villeneuve’s first Hollywood film, and he proves he’s just as adept in this realm as he is in independent film. I can’t wait to see where his career goes from here.
What films did you like or dislike at this year’s TIFF? Share your comments below!
Still from Prisoners.