(no subject)
Saw Prisoners last Saturday.
This movie was...ok. Oh, the cast was great. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal? Fer shure. There were two things in there that I found bothersome enough to ruin it for me.
1. When Keller Dover's wife has her little hysterical melt-down in the bedroom. She sobs stupid shit like "Why can't you get my baby back? Why?" and "I thought you could protect us...from everything." I was pretty embarrassed when I heard that crap. That was *obviously* written by a man to some secret fear that men have to motivate Keller into what he does. Because no one would do something horrible just because his daughter is missing, and he thinks the guy knows where she is, right? He has to be poked in the gizzard with some fear of personal failure.
2. If there was a guy who had basically the mind of a 10-year-old child, and you had pretty good reason to think that he had taken your daughter, or at least knew where she was, what would you do? Keller kidnaps the guy, takes him to an old house, and tortures the crap out of him for nearly a week. Now, I personally would expect him to give it up after the first day. Most people without a really compelling reason to keep a secret would give it up after the first punch in the face, but whatever. If you really put your back into working someone over for information, and they *don't* spill it after the first day, he either doesn't know, or has an extremely good reason for not telling you. And someone with the intelligence of a 10-year-old? Yeah, you give a kid some ice cream and tell him he's a good boy, and you can pretty much get him to tell you anything. Hell, with kids, you have more problems getting them to *not* spill everything they know to random people.
I thought the acting was really good, though I think Jake Gyllenhall was trying just a little too hard with the eye-blinking characterization. Something about that didn't read quite true, but I don't know what.
This movie was...ok. Oh, the cast was great. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal? Fer shure. There were two things in there that I found bothersome enough to ruin it for me.
1. When Keller Dover's wife has her little hysterical melt-down in the bedroom. She sobs stupid shit like "Why can't you get my baby back? Why?" and "I thought you could protect us...from everything." I was pretty embarrassed when I heard that crap. That was *obviously* written by a man to some secret fear that men have to motivate Keller into what he does. Because no one would do something horrible just because his daughter is missing, and he thinks the guy knows where she is, right? He has to be poked in the gizzard with some fear of personal failure.
2. If there was a guy who had basically the mind of a 10-year-old child, and you had pretty good reason to think that he had taken your daughter, or at least knew where she was, what would you do? Keller kidnaps the guy, takes him to an old house, and tortures the crap out of him for nearly a week. Now, I personally would expect him to give it up after the first day. Most people without a really compelling reason to keep a secret would give it up after the first punch in the face, but whatever. If you really put your back into working someone over for information, and they *don't* spill it after the first day, he either doesn't know, or has an extremely good reason for not telling you. And someone with the intelligence of a 10-year-old? Yeah, you give a kid some ice cream and tell him he's a good boy, and you can pretty much get him to tell you anything. Hell, with kids, you have more problems getting them to *not* spill everything they know to random people.
I thought the acting was really good, though I think Jake Gyllenhall was trying just a little too hard with the eye-blinking characterization. Something about that didn't read quite true, but I don't know what.