The Captive (2014)

I'm a big movie bro man guy. Before I delve into a movie I first look at the IMDb rating, read the summary, and then read the reviews. The summary of the movie interested me but I did not have high hopes given the 5/10 rating. Watching this film, I was actually very entertained. I was hanging on the edge of my seat with my eyes glued to the screen.

Right off the rip, the film lets you know what happens to the little girl and who the captor is. The entire movie is the parents working with what seems like the best pedophile detectives ever assembled looking for their daughter. The movie does this Pulp Fiction thing with the past and the present scenes flipping and flopping back and forth to tell the story. No where near Pulp Fiction level, but the film gets the job done telling the story with it.

Viewing this movie it seemed more like a 7 rather than a 5/10. Until the final 15 minutes... Once the climax has hit I like a film to build its ending to a fulfilling satisfying conclusion. Once the end had arrived everything was slammed at you instantly and "Voila!", movie done. I'm not even exaggerating either. There was no build up or suspense to it at all. I can't be remotely descriptive without completely spoiling it. Poor finish to what could have been a good 7.5 film. The potential was there, the delivery was strong but poor finish.

The acting performances were "good". Nothing award worthy or anything, but the cast did "good". Except for Ryan Reynolds. I mean he could have at least tried a little harder to actually look like a devastated father who just lost his only daughter not knowing if she is dead or alive. Instead he looked more like a father who just lost his daughter at a Chuck E. Cheese's for 2 hours who was actually hiding in the ball pit the whole time...

Fmovies: Atom Egoyan dives into loss, cynicism, pedophilia, fear, love, loyalty, conspiracy, and technology. Anyone who's remotely dealt with the kind of situation involved will immediately recognize the ambiguity and confusion and immediacy of the past in the present that accompanies this particular trauma. The narrative shifts are telling an emotional story.

The acting is spot on. Because it doesn't fit normal expectations of narrative, and because the characters are not typical characters, first level viewers may find it a challenge - or, may find it informing their appreciation of film. The more you abide with it, the more you appreciate it. It is not a procedural, though there are police; it is not a thriller, though there is some action; it is not a mystery, though it is mysterious. It is a rant against a world and system that enable very bad things, and a compassionate look at the people caught in it. It's Egoyan at his best. Worth watching and thinking on afterward.

Plain and simple, this movie is so ridiculous it's almost funny. I feel like it was written by teenagers. The story line has potential but the way it is told is confusing, unclear, and with no real purpose for being so out of order.. With the exception of the father played by Ryan Reynolds, I have to say that every single character is extremely unrealistic. The detectives in particular are the most unbelievable characters I've ever seen in a movie to date. They acted childish and inexperienced, not at all like the child abduction detectives they are meant to be. The most ridiculous thing for me was the treatment of Ryan Reynolds' character (as the father of the missing girl). Yes, I get that often the parents are the first suspects in a child abduction case.. But once they are ruled out, that should be the end of it! Their treatment of the father in the initial interview is absolutely absurd... And yet, even 8 years after the abduction, when it is pretty bloody obvious the father had nothing to do with the abduction, Scott Speedman's character is still giving the poor guy a hard time about it! For e.g, Speedman's detective finds it suspicious that Reynolds has a shrine to his missing daughter in the back of his truck? I believe the exact quote was "what's with the shrine, man?" as he is taking photos of the truck... On what planet is it suspicious behaviour to have a shrine of your missing daughter?! It would be more suspicious if Reynolds' character wasn't grieving over his missing daughter, wouldn't it?? The character of the kidnapper is also just absolutely hilarious. His voice, his demeanor, his facial expressions, all just completely over the top. I half expected him to swivel around in an arm chair stroking a cat with a patch over his eye.. Argh. Don't waste your time with this piece of poop.

The Captive fmovies. This one is all on the Director. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish but it failed miserably. The basic outline of the story showed a lot of promise but it never came together. Its funny that one of the reoccurring lines in the dialog between the father and daughter focused on the word "gimmick" because it seemed as if the director tried to fit every story telling gimmick he could think of into this film. The result is a horribly told story. Constantly confusing. Disjointed. Lacking any depth - you couldn't connect with any of the characters. The story had no pace. You spend your time trying to figure out what's going on....then asking yourself, why did they do that...and then constantly hoping they can manage to pull their stuff together, only to be disappointed in the end. The actors were a talented group. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been for them being stuck in this slow motion train wreck.

Let me start by stating this isn't the greatest movie ever made - You've only got to look at some of the other reviews to see that. However...

I actually really enjoyed it (maybe because I'm the father of a 10 year old girl, and so could perhaps relate easier, IDK??). Anyway, it really got me hooked from the beginning. Sorry all you haters but it deserves better than a 5/10 score.

Many people moan about the confusing timeline. I honestly can't say I struggled with the story going back and forth. The actors appearances altered accordingly with age, hairstyles, etc... the story actually seemed fairly straight forward to follow without any difficulty. I can easily get muddled up in an awkward film if I lose interest - maybe that's what happened to all the negative critics on here??? Overall, an enjoyable movie (despite the disturbing story) that I'll undoubtedly recommend to family and friends.

It should be a telling indicator when a movie studio releases a movie online the same time they release it in the theaters. It means the studio knows it's a bomb, and is going to try and get the most money they can out of it, through all mediums, before the negative reviews take hold. Well, it worked, and they got my $5.99. Ugh.

Movie has the potential to be something gripping, but instead it just slugs along. In other films, showing scenes out of sequence is done for specific impact or effect. Here it's done as a gimmick - "Hey, how about we show this part here, and then just for the hell of it, show an earlier part next, and then something from the middle after that..." Give me a break. It serves absolutely no purpose, and only further confuses, frustrates, and angers the audience.

Some of the acting is well done, but it's not enough. The creepy child abductor character is practically wearing a "creepy child abductor" Halloween mask, and yet he shuffles through this entire movie with nobody suspecting a thing. The relationship between the male/female detective leads is awkward, and never fully explained. The secondary members of the detective team are introduced with specific "gifts", only to be essentially never seen again (never mind showing how their "gifts" are relevant to the story).

I've never written a review here before, but this is such a clunker, I just couldn't help myself. I cringe as some others are comparing this to Hitchcock. Lord, have ya seen Hitchcock? Cause this crap ain't even close.