Prisoners

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How far would you go to find someone you lost? Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) shows that even the most honest and spiritual men can lose their sanity and moral standing in time of ambiguity. But in his defense, how sane can you expect a father to be when he's looking for his kidnapped daughter, and when the man with an obvious connection to the crime is allowed to walk free?

After a happy Thanksgiving celebration between neighbors, Anna Dover (daughter of Maria Bello and Jackman's characters) and Joy Birch (daughter of Viola Davis and Terrence Howard's characters) disappear during an unsupervised stroll through the neighborhood. When the Dover's teenaged son recalls seeing a suspicious RV earlier in the day, a search ensues and the vehicle is found. Inside is a man, Alex Jones (Paul Dano). Because of the lack of evidence in the RV and the fact that Jones has the IQ of a 10-year-old, he is released 48 hours later, to the extreme frustration of Mr. Dover. Convinced Jones is the man who kidnapped his daughter, Keller abducts Jones and tortures him for information, consistently hitting a dead end.

Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is assigned to finding Anna and Joy. Having solved every case he's been assigned to on the force, the task proves extremely difficult when he can't manage to get to the bottom of this so quickly. He follows several leads throughout the film's 2.5 hour runtime, even resorting to suspecting Keller himself.

Prisoners is a prime example of how adding minutes to the runtime doesn't make up for a somewhat weak resolution. I won't go so far as to say that the climactic confrontation between Keller and the abductor was a disappointment, but after all the buildup and events of the previous two hours, I was expecting a lot more in terms of excitement. 

Kept afloat thanks to a great cast (notably Jackman and Dano) and an enigmatic script, Prisoners builds up a beautifully complex story, only to leave a few issues not fully or clearly resolved once its belated ending finally arrives. But this didn't take away that much from my enjoyment of the movie. For the most part, I was enthralled and captivated. Also, there's a pretty clear giveaway of who really was responsible for the kidnapping. When you see it, don't overthink it. 

Rating: 4/5

Blue Jasmine

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Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), in her natural environment.

Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine has a lot to say about a lot of things. Honesty, materialism, faithfulness, dedication, family, kindness - just to scratch the surface. NYC socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves to San Francisco to get a fresh start on life. Flashbacks illustrate how the relationship with her wealthy and adulterous husband (Alec Baldwin) crumbled and left her alone and without the abundant supply of finances she had become so used to. 

In California, Jasmine moves in with her adoptive sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). Ginger is an ex-wife of a low-life contractor, a mother of two, and bags groceries for a living. She's currently seeing a mechanic (Bobby Cannavale) who is equally sleazy but better-hearted than her ex-husband. Jasmine can't be bothered to conform to her sister's unspectacular and challenged lifestyle, often openly criticizing her occupation, choice of men, and lack of ambition to better her life. She tells anyone who will listen how her stay at Ginger's is only temporary until she can get back on her feet.

Jasmine is too busy pointing out the imperfections in the lives of those she looks down on, and just can't come to the realization that she's not trying to change the things in her life that really need fixing. She tells Ginger how sad it is for her to be seeing a man who so closely resembles her ex. But when Jasmine finds love in California, it's with a man who can offer her everything her own ex-husband was able to. She loves no one - just a lifestyle. Anything that interferes with that lifestyle is simply an inconvenience that must be ignored or removed, which prevents her from facing her problems head-on. 

The movie definitely has that "Woody Allen" touch. Taking into account that I've only seen Annie Hall, that just shows how much of a signature Allen leaves on his films. There are a lot of "year's bests" here. I'd argue that Blue Jasmine has the best screenplay, ensemble performance, and lead female performance of the year so far. It's a little slowly paced, but Cate Blanchett's performance keeps the movie afloat from start to finish, and the flashbacks are included in a way that keeps things interesting. 

Blue Jasmine arrived at a good time. Just when I was about to say 2013 hasn't seen its share of high quality films, Blue Jasmine gives me hope for the rest of the year. And hey, in a few months, Oscar season will be in full effect. Hopefully Blue Jasmine is just the start of a potentially fantastic ending to 2013.

Rating: 4.5/5