Jackman the perfect vigilante
Prisoners (MA)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gylenhaal, Viola Davis
GOODY Two-Shoes and all-round nice guy Hugh Jackman makes me sick.
But he’s never been more watchable than he is in this excellent slice of darkness of a film.
There’s plenty of Oscar buzz around this little film noir beauty, with Jackman’s performance a career highlight.
He plays a father to a missing daughter who saddles up for a little vigilante action.
Jake Gylenhaal is a twitching nervous wreck as the detective on the trail of the kidnapper, navigating his way through a maze of lies and half-truths.
It’s a long, intricately plotted whodunit that is the best thing on screens at the moment.
The freaks Gylenhaal is chasing are monsters of the first order, and it’s a deeply engaging battle.
At the same time, Jackman explores both his own pain threshold, and that of the prime suspect. How far would you go to protect those you love? Hopefully not as far as Hugh, who goes a fair old way indeed.
At its best, Prisoners recalls the dizzy heights of the classic of the genre, “Seven”. We may not see a better film this year – take the trip into this heart of darkness.
– Jason Beck
