Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners (R)

"The Old Ball and Chain"

A community is dumbstruck when two young children disappear outside a house on Thanksgiving day.  When the investigation drags and mysterious events entangle the families, one father takes it upon himself to find his daughter by interrogating the clear suspect, even as the police slowly encircle his life in this taught, successful thriller with a great ensemble cast and one of those endings that leave you wishing there was 5 minutes more.

Wolverine's alter ego Hugh Jackman leads the cast as blue collar dad Keller, who enlists his neighbor and fellow grieving father Terrance Howard into the dark shadows of vigilantism against the most likely suspect Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood).  Jake Gyllenhall's detective is a bit of a miscast, but doesn't lead to any distractions.  Legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins (of the Coen's Fargo fame) brings his "A+" game, uplifting the entire production from the hazy snow to the grim set jaws of the cast.  The story takes quite a few swerves and swipes the red herring around (even when it ends up in predictable territory), yet it's edge never fails to be keen.  It's a white knuckler, with that palpable feeling of eyes on your back, of baited breath as the hair on your arms stand on end.  The title is a little too on the nose, as is Jackman's character selling his own prisoner of grief role, but the subject matter is relevant and can push all kinds of buttons regarding parental instinct and the abuse of the innocent,

7.5 Plastic Emergency Whistles out of 10 (GOOD)