This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Hugh Jackman in a scene from “Prisoners.”Parenting involves countless mundane decisions – dozens a day. But as any parent knows, the potential for tragedy stemming from a wrong decision is never far from the surface of the mind. What if they go out and get hit by a car? What if I look away and they drown in the current? What if they get kidnapped?
No wonder the movies get so much mileage out of missing-children tales. But few – very few – handle it with the skill that director Denis Villeneuve and a terrific cast led by Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal bring to “Prisoners,” a suspense thriller that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
Jackman, we all know, is not only talented but so darned likable that it’s hard for him to break out of that ever-charming persona. But here, in some of his best work to date, he manages it – and surpasses last year’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Les Miserables” – as a grief-stricken, panicked father who succumbs to his basest impulses in a race to find his young daughter’s captors.
And Gyllenhaal, in a less flashy but just as compelling performance, brings new depth to the well-worn role of brooding, driven detective. To the film’s credit, we don’t get much backstory on this character. A few small hints are all we need; the actor’s textured performance does the rest.
Jackman is Keller Dover, a carpenter in a Pennsylvania town, and a survivalist who believes diligent preparation is the key to avoiding disaster. His basement is packed with supplies. But that won’t help him on the cold and gray Thanksgiving evening when his young daughter and her friend go missing.