Prisoners

Prisoners (2013)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski

Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, Wayne Duvall, David Dastmalchian, Kyla-Drew Simmons, and Erin Gerasimovich

This is the first English language movie from Denis Villeneuve. It is highly rated on IMDb. I can see why.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, two girls; Anna and Joy (Gerasimovich, Simmons) go missing. Keller, Grace, Franklin and Nancy (Jackman, Bello, Howard, Davis) try to find the girls. Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) is tasked to find the girls. When a person of interest in the case, Alex (Dano) is let go, Keller decides to put matters in his own hands.

I love a good crime thriller. This one is very solid. If I was in the same situation that the parents were, I would do the same thing to find my child. Not the lengths that Keller does, but I was try anything. The parents were going through it. I can understand. Gyllenhaal, Jackman, and Dano were very good in the movie. I wish this movie got more love when it was released.

The thing that bothered me was the pacing of the film. The movie was too long. I understand that Villeneuve wanted to have the tension build over time. I get that. If the movie could have been trimmed twenty to thirty minutes-- a tight two hours-- I would have loved it more.

I knew the ending of the movie a good hour into it. I was waiting for the characters to catch up. It felt frustrating that the film meandered along I wanted to scream that "X" did this with the help of "Y", because you found "Z".

Rating: 9/10

Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Directed by Tom Ford

Screenplay by Tom Ford

Based on the novel, "Tom and Susan" by Austin Wright

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, and Michael Sheen

After I enjoyed A Single Man, I was looking forward to watching Tom Ford's follow up. I heard that the movie didn't get that much fanfare when it came out. I can see why.

A gallery owner, Susan Morrow (Adams) receives a book manuscript in the mail. It comes from her ex-husband, Edward (Gyllenhaal). As Susan begins to read the manuscript, the events of book are shown onscreen.

I have plenty of thoughts. I understand that Susan did not like or encourage Edward's writing career when they were married. Fine. The story that Edward wrote is not good. It was annoying to me. I did not care about the book character's lives. I was checked out.

I would have like the movie better if the book parts happened in the beginning and then it is revealed to be a book. Sure.

I cannot with this mess. Sorry.

Rating: 1/10