**Spoilers Alert***
The film begins with us meeting Hugh Jackman and his family. They live in the woods (poconos/upstate Pennsylvania), and are preparing to visit a friend's house for Thanksgiving. The two young girls of these families go outside to play while the parents laugh and share memories in the living room. Not that much time passes by before the parents wonder where their children are. They begin to search, and anxiety quickly settles in when all areas of the community are covered.
I will admit, I appreciated the film going right into the disappearance of these kids. Most films take a while to build up and they lose the audience's attention rather quickly. But that wasn't the issue. The issue was how long it took for the twist to come in and for the children to be found. Two hours and thirty minutes could have definitely been shortened.
The primary suspect, Alex Jones, is a mentally unstable young adult who is found alone in his RV the night the children go missing. It was noted that the same RV was parked on the street the girls were playing on. We are led to believe Alex is the kidnapper but his inability to comprehend any question that comes his way causes us to doubt the accusation. Most of the film is seen through the point of view of Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) who also cannot hold any further evidence on Alex. He completely checks out and is clean. He is let go and Dover (Jackman) is not pleased. He confronts Alex in front of the police station and violently shakes him to demand where his children are. Alex makes a comment "They cried when I left them" which makes Dover go completely over the top. The police grab a hold of him and Alex continues on his way.
Dover does not approve of the way Loki is handling this case and so he takes matters into his own hands and kidnaps Alex. He beats Alex throughout two thirds of the film to the point we cannot recognize the character anymore. He even locks him in a shower and shoots scolding hot water at him in order to make him speak. Now we know from the beginning Alex is mentally challenged , and cannot speak and/or comprehend. As a result, this torture is just continuing and continuing and continuing because Dover is convinced he knows where the children are. The other Father (Terrence Howard) helps him in this torture, but is morally conflicted at how horrible this is.
I was morally and emotionally bothered by how much attention to detail went to the torturing of Alex. While I understand parents will do anything to get their children back, this was not the answer. The film took a turn to us hating Dover and feeling terrible for Alex instead of focusing on the children and the case at hand. By the time the children are found and it is revealed that Alex's Aunt is the true kidnapper, I was so disgusted that I didn't care about the ending at all. Because now I say to myself, "All that torture for nothing." It is also revealed that the Aunt kidnapped many children years ago alongside her husband and Alex was ONE OF THOSE KIDS. She did so much damage when he was a boy that he grew up to be challenged. The same thing happened to another suspect we met later in the film. He ends up committing suicide when the police question him since they are convinced he's the kidnapper at the end (complete waste of a storyline). It turns out he was a victim of the Aunt as well. My question is, How did the Aunt get away with all this for so long? No one put two and two together? And when Alex went missing, no one thought to question Dover - the insane "I hate Alex Jones" person?
While the cinematography and filming was perfect in this film (shots were done very well), the acting was pitiful. I'm sorry but Hugh Jackman screaming every five seconds does not convince me that he is a parent fighting for his daughter's safekeeping. And Jake Gyllenhaal was as monotone as they come. No emotion. No passion (except for a brief "let's smash every office supply on our desk moment" cliche). I was very disappointed by these actors as they are Academy Award nominees. I expected so much better from two of my favorite actors.
It was quite a shame and honestly, I was so bothered by this film that I do not recommend it to anyone. Sorry but this one failed to meet the expectations of a dramatic crime thriller.
My Rating: C-
