Review: Metallica: Through the Never

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★★

Disclaimer: I am a Metallica fan. I will probably not be able to keep my bias out of this review as much as I would like but I’ll try. I’ve loved this band since I was in high school and continued to listen to their music despite some negative publicity in the late 90s/early 2000s where half their fans bailed on them (that would be the Napster lawsuit). While my iPod may not be constantly tuned to their music like my CD player was in 1999, I still do like this band very much. My favorite concert going experience was seeing these guys in Rockingham, NC in 2000 on the Summer Sanitarium Tour – from the front row no less. And now they have a movie.

There’s no denying that Metallica – comprised of lead singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo – is one of the biggest bands in the world. Whether you love them or hate them, they’re enormously popular. When you’ve sold as many albums as they have, sell out concerts all over the world and continue to inspire new generations of musicians, what’s left to do? Fans such as myself would say, “make a new album!” But, alas, that’s still another year or two away. Instead, Metallica have entered the realms of film.

“Metallica: Through the Never” is a little more than just a concert documentary. I suppose when the band was approached with the idea of doing something like this, they must have said that they didn’t want the movie to feature just them playing for 90 minutes; something else was needed. After all, why charge your fans admission to a movie when you could just make this a straight to DVD release? Metallica already have numerous DVD releases. The extra bit of pizzazz that was added was a short fictional narrative that plays a secondary role to the concert footage.

The narrative follows Trip (Dane DeHaan), a young roadie for Metallica on this tour. The movie opens with Trip arriving to the arena via skateboard and passing by each member of Metallica on his way inside. The band takes the stage as Trip watches and sings along. He’s quickly pulled from the arena and asked to run an errand. He’s tasked with finding a truck belonging to the road crew that’s run out of gas. He’s to bring the truck a tank of gas and bring it back to the arena; there’s something very important in the truck that the band needs tonight.

Trip heads out into a surprisingly vacant downtown. He soon finds himself in the middle of a massive riot full of masked and hooded people going up against the police. The rioters appear to be lead by a masked horseman who, for some reason, has it in for Trip.

The narrative, written by director Nimród Antal along with each member of Metallica, is quite loose and doesn’t seem to follow any real type of guidance. Trip doesn’t say a whole lot and he doesn’t have to either. He’s seemingly walking through the city streets in a confused daze. His reactions are similar to what the audience will probably be thinking as they watch the events unfold throughout the night: “what the hell?”

For once, I’ll give a film a free pass for having a shaky and uninspired screenplay. That’s because the only reason for seeing this movie is Metallica. If the band wanted to release this as just a concert film with no other narrative, it would have been fine, but it would have been just another concert DVD to watch on your tiny TV in your living room. The narrative is chaotic enough that it works well within the confines of the band’s music and stage show.

Metallica pulls out all the stops for this show. The stage upon which they play is one of the most impressive I’ve seen. They’re standing on several LCD panels that project images as they play. They also bring along their signature light and pyro show. Props that resemble images from the band’s back catalogue appear from time to time. The props conjure up images from the album covers of Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and …And Justice For All. They bring out a setlist full of their greatest hits that will surely leave any Metallica fan nodding their head to the tunes.

Director Antal captures the concert in a near-flawless fashion. Filming in IMAX 3D is a difficult thing to do already, but it becomes even more of a challenge when you only have one shot to get the entire thing right. Antal handles this difficult task with great ease. The film is immersive in every sense. The fact that this is an IMAX 3D film is what makes it work so well. It comes off as more of an experience than your typical concert film. Had this been a straight to DVD release, the whole size and scope of this production would be lost.

“Metallica: Through the Never” is a lot of fun if you’re a Metallica fan. Even a causal Metallica fan who only knows the songs typically played on the radio will get a kick out of this. Nothing beats watching Metallica from the front row, but if you’ve never had that opportunity, this will be a very doable alternative. Plus your ears won’t ring for a week after the movie ends. 

Oscarology: Vol 1, pt. 2 - Best Picture Nominees

Welcome to Oscarology, the study of the Hollywood awards season culminating with the presentation of the Academy Awards in March 2014. I am Trevor Kirkendall, your resident Oscarologist. I’ve been studying the tendencies of the Oscars since 1993 and have since earned my PhD in this study. The following series of articles will cover the landscape of the upcoming awards season from now until the nominations are announced on January 16, 2014.

Earlier this week, we looked at the five films I think are all but guaranteed to be nominated for Best Picture at this time. Today, let’s go through the rest of the calendar year chronologically, starting with a movie that’s already been released, and see what else could contended for the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2013.

Michael B. Jordan as Oscar Grant in "Fruitvale Station"

FRUITVALE STATION, the emotionally charged true story about Oscar Grant’s 2009 murder by San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police.  The film was the winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Last year’s Grand Jury Prize winner was nominated for Best Picture (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”). The 2010 Grand Jury Prize winner was nominated for Best Picture (“Winter’s Bone”). The 2009 winner was also nominated (“Precious”). Why not “Fruitvale Station”?

Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt in Ron Howard's "Rush"

Ron Howard's Formula One drama RUSH opens this Friday everywhere. Howard is usually very reliable when he tackles dramatic subject matter such as this. No one has really done a Formula One movie quite like this either. My only reservation on "Rush" is that they've been sitting on it for almost a year. Best Picture contenders are also not normally released in September. This could be a good film, but might not carry much weight into the nomination season. We'll find out more on Friday.

Tom Hanks as Richard Phillips in "Captain Phillips"

Opening on October 11 will be the new thriller from Paul Greengrass, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS starring Tom Hanks. This is a true story of Richard Phillips, captain of the MV Maersk Alabama which was hijacked by Somalian pirates in 2009. Three things the Academy voters seem to like: true story, Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass (a previous Oscar nominee for another harrowing true story “United 93”). I have seen this film, but I can't say anything about it right now. All I'll say is that this is a very safe bet to secure a nomination for Best Picture.

Benedict Cumberbath and Daniel Brühl star in the
WikiLeaks biopic "The Fifth Estate"

October 18 not only brings us “12 Years a Slave” but also THE FIFTH ESTATE, a biopic on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Assange which could earn him a nomination for Best Actor. The film received a pretty so-so reception when it premiered last month. The audience's response will be key. It might strike a chord with the public since it's socially relevant with recent accusations regarding the NSA's so-called domestic spy program.  I don’t know if this one will go the distance and secure a nomination, but you never know. It could be a dark horse.

Robert Redford fights for survival in "All is Lost" 

Also on October 18 is ALL IS LOST from director J.C. Chandor (Oscar nominated writer-director of "Margin Call") and starring Robert Redford. Redford plays a man stranded at sea by himself after his sailboat is destroyed by a storm. Redford is the only person in this film; there are no other costars. The film premiered to rave reviews at Cannes earlier this year. This might turn out to be one of those films where the critics appreciate the daring artistic choices by the director and the fearless performance by Redford, but the paying public might be turned off by a film with one man and very little dialogue. I think a nomination for Redford is probably a certainty, but a Best Picture nomination might be a stretch. If the public eats it up (like, say, "Cast Away" back in 2000) then it might have a shot of being the last film nominated.

Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux in the French film
"Blue is the Warmest Color"

Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or winning film BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR opens on October 25. This is also a bit of a dark horse in my book right now, mostly due to its explicit subject matter and the fact that its a foreign language film. The three-hour film chronicles the love story between two young women. The last two Palme d’Or winning films (2011’s “The Tree of Life” and 2012’s “Amour”) were both nominated for Best Picture. Why not 2013’s winner? That's not a great barometer for predicting what will be nominated for Best Picture; before those two films, the last film to win the Palme d'Or and score a Best Picture nomination was "The Pianist" in 2002. Again, this is probably a dark horse, but worth mentioning.

Matthew McConaughy looking very frail as an AIDS
patient in "Dallas Buyers Club"

November 1 is the limited opening for DALLAS BUYERS CLUB starring Matthew McConaughy as an AIDS patient smuggling unapproved drugs from Mexico to sell to other AIDS patients. The film also stars Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto. This is a true story which could help its chances, since Academy votes like true stories. Despite that fact, this is probably another dark horse. McConaughy is almost certain to earn an acting nomination. We’ll discuss the acting awards on a later day.

Sophie Nélisse, Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush in
"The Book Thief" opening November 15.

THE BOOK THIEF opens November 15 and stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson (a former Oscar winner and nominee, respectively). The film is based on the popular bestselling novel about a young girl sent to live with a family in World War II Germany. I don’t think this has been screened for anyone yet, but it’s worth mentioning simply for those involved and the source material. We'll keep an eye on this one. Oscar voters do love World War II movies. Any World War II drama that can make a good connection with the audience usually seems to be considered for Best Picture.

Bruce Dern and Will Forte play father and son in
Alexander Payne's latest "Nebraska"

November 15 also sees the opening of NEBRASKA from Oscar winning writer-director Alexander Payne. The film stars Bruce Dern as an elderly man going on a road trip with his son (Will Forte) from Montana to Nebraska to claim what he thinks is a winning sweepstakes prize. The role won Dern the Best Actor award at Cannes earlier this year. Other winners of this award in recent years include Jean Dujardin for “The Artist” and Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds”, both of whom went on to win Oscars for the same roles. Both films were also nominated for Best Picture, with “The Artist” winning. Same thing for “Nebraska”? The Academy does love Alexander Payne. His previous films“Sideways” and “The Descendants” were both Best Picture nominees.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordon Belfort in "The Wolf
of Wall Street"

You can’t count out Martin Scorsese either. His latest film, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, is currently scheduled for November 15 but that doesn't seem likely anymore as of today. It’s a true story based on Jordan Belfort’s bestselling memoirs. Leonardo DiCaprio is playing Belfort, a maniacal young Wall Street executive who ultimately served time in federal prison for stock market manipulation and running a boiler room. It costars Matthew McConaughy, Jonah Hill, Jean Dujardin, Margot Robbie, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chadler, Rob Reiner and Jon Bernthal. The trailer looks outstanding. Oscar voters do love Scorsese. Most of his films end up being nominated for Best Picture these days. He had a run going for awhile where he had several films nominated for Best Picture, but none ever won. He finally won the top prize (and Best Director too) in 2006 for "The Departed". Since then he's still been a fixture at the Academy Awards; however the overcrowding this year could leave him on the outside looking in. The latest news on this today is that Scorsese's cut of the film was 180 minutes long and Paramount wants him to cut it. They're going to try and have it ready for Christmas Day. If not, it'll be pushed to next year where it will instantly top my Oscar Watch List for 2014.

Idris Elba working on his Oscar nomination as Nelson
Mandela in "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"

MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM opens November 29. Oscar voters love their true stories, as I’ve said numerous times already. This one is the true story about Nelson Mendela’s time during the South African apartheid. Idris Elba looks great in the film so a Best Actor nomination could be on tap for him. I do get the feeling that this film could become a little too long winded or maybe even rely too heavily on phony emotions to draw you in. If that's the case, the film could become a boring mess. If it makes a genuine connection, however, it could line up for many awards. If it bores, one nod for Elba, and that'll be it. I'm going to put my bets on the latter for now.

Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale in "American Hustle"

David O. Russell, who directed last year’s Best Picture nominee “Silver Linings Playbook”, returns this year on December 13 with AMERICAN HUSTLE. The film is about the 1970s FBI Abscam operation and stars some actors Russell has worked with before: Oscar winner Christian Bale, Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper, Oscar nominee Amy Adams, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and Oscar winner Robert De Niro. Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner also joins the Russell family with this one, as does comedian Louis C.K. Based on the trailer and subject matter I think this is a pretty safe bet. 

Tom Hanks as Walt Disney in "Saving Mr. Banks"

Another Tom Hanks film opens on December 13, SAVING MR. BANKS. It stars Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins, and tells the story of how Walt Disney (Hanks) tried to get her book made into a movie. We all know the film became a classic, but "Saving Mr. Banks" will show how the book was almost never made into a movie. Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Ruth Wilson, Rachel Griffiths, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak and Kathy Bates costar. How the Academy could ignore a biopic featuring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney is beyond me. You can probably take this one to the bank, as long as its half way decent.

George Clooney and Matt Damon work to save German
historical artifacts from Nazis in "The Monuments Men"

THE MONUMENTS MEN, a new film from director George Clooney, opens December 18. It’s a historical biopic set during World War II about a group of Americans who go into Nazi Germany in order to retrieve works of art before the Nazi’s destroy them. George Clooney acting and directing, Oscar winning producer Grant Heslov producing, World War II. Need I say more? The film also costars other big names too: Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin and Bob Balaban. Bet on this one too, as long as its good. My only reservation is that the trailer does make the movie seem like there will be several goofy and light hearted moments. We'll have to see how that translates throughout the entire picture. If it comes off more funny rather than series, its chances will greatly diminish.

Joaquin Phoenix longs for love in "Her"

Spike Jonze returns after several years of not directing with HER. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams, the film looks a little odd but still looks quite good. Phoenix’s character develops a relationship with his computer’s new smart operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). This one could be a long shot due to its quirky plot. If there’s enough power and emotion behind it, something Jonze is capable of doing, then it could be one of the films singled out in January.

Steve Carrel and Channing Tatum in "Foxcatcher"

December 20 brings us the release of Bennett Miller’s latest film FOXCATCHER starring Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. In this true story, Tatum and Ruffalo star as Olympic wrestling brothers Mark and Dave Schultz and their relationship with eccentric millionaire, and paranoid schizophrenic, John du Pont (Steve Carell). This is Miller’s third film. His first two (“Capote” and “Moneyball”) were both nominated for Best Picture. Judging by the subject matter, I think Miller has a decent shot of going three for three. Again, it is a crowded field this year, so it could be left out in the cold.

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in "Labor Day"

Christmas Day will bring us LABOR DAY, the latest film from Oscar nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman. This one stars Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet and is based on a novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard. Reitman has been up for Best Picture twice (“Juno” and “Up in the Air”). He’s an Academy favorite, which means this is one we should watch. It did not receive the kind of reception I thought it would when it screened at Toronto. Most critics seemed to like it, but were not blown away by it.

Ben Stiller ready for adventure in "The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty"

Finally, that brings us to another Christmas Day release. This one comes from an unlikely source: Ben Stiller. THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, a remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye film, has been in development for a very long time. At one point, I think Steven Spielberg intended this to be his follow up to “Schindler’s List”. That didn’t happen, and now Stiller has made it into a movie that looks very special. Based on the trailers, I’d say it looks like a cross between “Forrest Gump” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. If the movie is anywhere near as good as the trailer, this one could very well contend.

So that’s what the landscape looks like for the Best Picture Oscar race. That’s a lot of potential nominees, so where does that leave us for predictions? Remember, 1-5 are the guaranteed picks as of today, and 6-10 are the confidence picks (if there are six nominees, 1-6 will be the nominated films. If there are seven nominees, then 1-7 will be nominated and so on). So these are the picks as of today and there will be plenty of time for that to change.

1. 12 Years a Slave
2. August: Osage County
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Gravity
5. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
6. Captain Phillips
7. American Hustle
8. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
9. The Monuments Men
10. Saving Mr. Banks

It’s hard to leave movies off this list. The next several months will help us drop down the list of potentials. It will still be a very crowded field, but this is what makes the Oscars so much fun. Sure, you’re favorite movie might not be nominated, but it’s so much fun to try and figure out which films will be recognized on March 2, 2014.

Stay tuned for Volume 2 sometime next week. We’ll look at the potentials for the leading role acting categories. 

Oscarology: Vol 1, pt. 1 - Best Picture Nominees

Welcome to Oscarology, the study of the Hollywood awards season culminating with the presentation of the Academy Awards in March 2014. I am Trevor Kirkendall, your resident Oscarologist. I’ve been studying the tendencies of the Oscars since 1993 and have since earned my PhD in this study. The following series of articles will cover the landscape of the upcoming awards season from now until the nominations are announced on January 16, 2014.

For this first volume, we will focus on the top category: Best Picture of the Year.

A few years ago, the Academy amended their rules to allow a minimum of five films to be nominated for Best Picture, but no more than 10. Nobody will know exactly how many films will be nominated until the announcement in January. Nine films have been nominated in each of the past two years since the rule amendment. The rules provide that Academy members vote for their five favorite pictures from the year. The movies with the highest total will be nominated, provided that the film receives 5% of first place rankings (meaning each movie nominated for Best Picture was ranked first on at least 5% of the ballots cast).

Therefore, there’s no way to tell exactly which films are going to be nominated. So what I’ll do between now and the day the nominations are released is to provide a list of 10 films that could be nominated. Films ranked 1-5 will be the guaranteed nominees. Films 6-10 will be ranked by confidence (if there are 6 nominees, it’ll be films 1-6, if there are seven then it’ll be films 1-7 and so on).

So which films are going to be nominated? This is a much more crowded season as opposed to last year. I was surprised to see nine nominated films even made the nomination list last year simply because the quality of films was lower than in previous years. This year, it would not surprise me to see all 10 slots filled. It also would not surprise me to only see five of six films nominated due to the 5% rule. Too many films to be spread out across too many Academy voters.

Let’s have a look at some of the films that will no doubt be considered for not only a nomination, but the win as well. Please remember, I haven’t seen any of these films yet. This is all based on pure speculation, and my knowledge of how these awards work. Please note my PhD in Oscarology. In part one today, we'll look at the five films the I believe, as of right now, will be guaranteed a nomination for Best Picture.

Chiwetel Ejiofor in the Best Picture frontrunner "12 Years
a Slave" opening October 18

Until further notice, the film I believe will win the Best Picture Oscar is 12 YEARS A SLAVE. This film was the recipient of the Toronto International Film Festival’s only award, the People’s Choice Award. Four of the last five winners of this award went on to score a Best Picture nomination and two of those films (“Slumdog Millionaire” and “The King’s Speech”) won the award.

“12 Years a Slave,” from acclaimed British filmmaker Steve McQueen, is based on an autobiography by Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York in antebellum America who was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Northup. Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt and Paul Dano also star. The film was said to have left the Toronto audience in a stunned silence before erupting into a rare standing ovation. Some critics walked out, unable to watch because of the intensity. One critic said this is the “Schindler’s List” of slavery films. That’s saying something. I believe at this moment, “12 Years to Slave” will be the film to beat. It begins its limited run on October 18.

Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts star in
"August: Osage County" opening Christmas Day

Another film that received a wonderful reception at Toronto comes from The Weinstein Company, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. From director John Wells (“The Company Men”), the film is based on a play by Tracy Letts who also wrote the screenplay. A family crisis brings family members back together to the Oklahoma home where they were raised. The film is loaded with star power including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch (again), Ewan McGregor, Juliette Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Dermot Mulroney, Sam Shepard, Chris Cooper and Margo Martindale. It also received a massive ovation from Toronto and could absolutely be considered a contender to win. I think a nomination is a given at this point. It opens for a limited run on Christmas Day before expanding (probably after it receives numerous Oscar nominations).

Oscar Isaac stars in the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn
Davis" coming to theaters December 6

Don't count out the Coen Brothers either. Their latest is INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS. This one premiered at Cannes earlier this year to rave reviews. At that time, many considered it the very early front-runner for Best Picture. It’s since fallen from that distinction, but only because Cannes was back in May. The film follows an aspiring folk singer-songwriter in New York City’s Greenwich Village during the 1960s. It stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrent Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham and Justin Timberlake. The soundtrack is being produced by T Bone Burnett (who produced the Grammy winning soundtrack for the Coen’s “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) and by Mumford and Sons frontman Marcus Mumford, so you know the music will be good. I think this will reclaim some kind of frontrunner status when it finally comes out in theaters. It will open with a limited run on December 6 before expanding on December 20.

Terror above the surface of the earth in "Gravity"

One film we’ll get to see very soon is the space thriller GRAVITY from director Alfonso Cuarón. The film stars previous Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in space after an accident destroys their space shuttle. Most of you have probably seen the ads for this one so you are all probably well aware of how good this looks. The Academy does not typically swoon for science fiction films such as this, but the early reviews have been nothing short of spectacular. While I think this will be a guaranteed nominee, I don’t know if the Academy will end up awarding it with their top prize. Then again, it’s only September and a lot can change. “Gravity” will open on October 4 everywhere, including IMAX 3D screens.

Robin Williams and Forest Whitaker in "Lee Daniels'
The Butler" now playing in theaters

Another guaranteed nominee will be LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER. This has already been released for some time and many of you have probably already seen it. Admittedly, I have not had a chance to see this one yet. The fact that this one has remained a decent box office draw helps its chances of a nomination. Just because it’s a successful box office draw does not mean it's going to be an Oscar nominee (if that were the case, “Iron Man 3”, “Despicable Me 2” and “Fast & Furious 6” would be nominated, and that is not going to happen). Its chances are helped by the fact that it's been well reviewed and well received in the box office.

I think these five films have the best chance of securing nominations, but what other films could contend? In part two, we'll examine the other films this year that could secure any of the remaining five slots. Check back Wednesday, September 25 for the second part of Best Picture Oscarology.

Review: Prisoners

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★★½

Here we go again, another boring police procedural. Just what we need. As if we don’t have enough on network television every night. As if USA and the Turner networks don’t wear us down with constant “NCIS” and “Law & Order” marathons every weekend. Didn’t we just see one of these? It sure seems like a police procedural comes out once every two months. Or was that just a “CSI” rerun I saw the other day?

 

That’s generally my take on procedure films such as “Prisoners” and I did carry some of that attitude with me into the screening despite how good the TV spots looked. But “Prisoners” is based around the characters and not around the procedure. By putting emphasis on character and story rather than the procedures, “Prisoners” transcends the predictable boundaries of the genre and becomes a much more relatable film.

It's Thanksgiving Day and Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is with his wife Grace (Maria Bello), teenage son Ralph (Dylan Minnetta) and six-year old daughter Anna (Erin Gerasimovich) at their neighbor Franklin (Terrence Howard) and Nancy (Viola Davis) Birch’s house for dinner. Franklin and Nancy also have a daughter about Ralph’s age, Eliza (Zoe Soul), and a daughter about Anna’s age, Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons). The two young girls are hanging out together and decide to go look for a lost toy back over at the Dover’s house. The parents allow them to go. That will be the last they see of them.

The girls go missing and the families being to search. Ralph remembers seeing a creepy looking RV parked on the street earlier in the day. Police soon find the RV and its owner Alex Jones (Paul Dano). Alex is said to have the IQ of a 10 year old. He’s quiet and creepy. Keller’s gut feeling is that Alex took the girls. He knows it, even if the police don’t have any evidence. The investigation is left up to Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) who’s very serious about his job and doesn’t appreciate Keller trying to tell him how it's supposed to be done.

But Keller is so convinced that Alex, who lives with his Aunt Holly (Melissa Leo). Loki investigates Alex and his aunt, but comes up with nothing tying him to the girls’ disappearance. This isn’t enough for Keller. The rage within him and his desire to find his daughter and her friend are too much for him to sit around and let Loki handle this on his own. He decides that it's up to him to find out what Alex knows.

While most police dramas or child kidnapping thrillers can be a very overdone and bland genre of film, “Prisoners” is a much more refreshing take. This is a very patiently paced story and very delicately handled by French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.

Villeneuve has a very strong handle of this exceptionally dark screenplay from “Contraband” scribe Aaron Guzikowski. The script takes the unique perspective of examining each character individually and building the story we are shown around their backstories and personalities. This - as opposed to coming up with a plot and inserting characters we don’t care about into it - works on a much more empathetic level; we can’t help but feel the pain everyone is experiencing.

The plot’s been done before so there’s no need to give us something we already know. By examining the scenario through meticulously designed characters, we have something that is much more engaging. It's a mystery film, but you don’t find yourself trying to solve the mystery before the movie does. You’re too engaged with the characters to be your own detective.

This is not a film of chance or coincidence. Everything here seems very realistic. Even the setting feels real. The decision to set “Prisoners” in an unnamed small Pennsylvania town helps to create a more realistic illusion. The lack of coincidence is also very refreshing, especially for a Hollywood studio film. I’m not saying it's completely free of coincidence, but people don’t just happen to find clues hidden away in plain sight late in the film when they should have noticed them earlier (well, one moment comes to mind, but that’s one moment in 153 total minutes; that’s a much better track record than other films). People don’t just happen to bump into potential killers or stumble over other plot details just to keep it moving. This is a very well thought out and methodically handled film.

The cast is full of talented star power. It makes little sense for me to tell you how good everyone is in this film because you should already know. With the exception of Paul Dano and Maria Bello, each of these main actors have been nominated for Oscars (and Melissa Leo took one home two years ago for “The Fighter”). Dano will get his one day; he’s far too talented to go unnoticed forever as he once again showcases here as the troubled and disturbed Alex Jones. Bello will get hers one day too. It's a crime she wasn’t already nominated for her roles in “A History of Violence” or “The Cooler”.

Jake Gyllenhaal takes a departure from his typical roles by playing this one with a much darker tone. The script is purposefully vague on his backstory, but Gyllenhaal is able to tell you everything you need to know about Detective Loki by the way behaves toward others around him and with his determination in solving this case.

Hugh Jackman is sensational in his portrayal as the desperate father. He is absolutely fearless in this role, so much more than I’ve ever seen him. I hope he doesn’t go unnoticed by Oscar voters because he really is that good in this film. He should absolutely be considered for his second nomination. You are unable to take your eyes off him. Despite questionable measures he takes in trying to find his daughter, you don’t necessarily disagree with him.

And in a complete juxtaposition to Jackman’s Keller is Terrence Howard’s portrayal of Franklin. This man couldn’t be anymore of a polar opposite to Jackman’s character. It’s riveting to watch these two one screen together and to see how each of them in their different lives deal with this unthinkable situation.

Despite the subject matter being similar to movies we typically get each year, nothing feels overdone in “Prisoners”. It’s a film you can really sink your teeth into as you watch. Even if it runs a little long just for the sake of being long, there is a lot of good to take away from this. It’s dark and at times eerie, and it should come across as a very rewarding experience once you make it through. And when you do make it through, “Prisoners” will still be in your head long after you leave.