Prisoners - Now that's how you make a thriller!!

I don't rave about most movies.  I either think they are bad, ok, or good enough.  It's rare that I think something is great or amazing.  Prisoners starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, and Terrence Howard is great and amazing!!!  I was on the edge of my seat, literally.

Prisoners is a crime-thriller about two families searching for their missing daughters.  They believe that the girls have been kidnapped by a young man with the IQ of a 10 year old because the girls were seen playing on his RV.  When the police have to let him go, the father of one of the girls (Jackman) decides to get answers on his own.  Meanwhile, the detective on the case (Gyllenhaal), discovers multiple clues that eventually leads to the truth.  That truth is as twisty and winding as the mazes that are ever present throughout the movie.

The answer is right in front of your face, but because there are so many emotions displayed by all of these fantastics actors, you can often over-look it.  We all know that Viola Davis is a fantastic actress which is evident here, but Hugh Jackman is the clear scene stealer.  His emotions are so raw and real that you feel his anger, his sadness, his fear, his need to protect, and his desire to find his daughter.  Terrence Howard is the other father, but he is the saddened, weary father who really doesn't know what to do or how to help.  He's kind of a punk.  I wanted to shake him and tell him to sack up.  Maria Bello plays Jackman's wife.  She's so distraught that she spends the majority of the movie drugged up and asleep.  Understandable.  Jake Gyllenhaal's character as the detective on this case struggles with finding the girls, keeping the parents from wilding out, and getting answers to the many clues that really make no sense until you see them all together.

Suspense and unexpected twist really take this thriller to the next level.  I truly enjoyed the raw emotions, the perfect plot, the incredible actors, and the movie as a whole.  They don't make great movies like this anymore.  There weren't any huge explosions, or sci-fi creatures, big car chase scenes, or tons of gun play.  It was a simple movie about how two families react to the kidnapping of their daughters, and how the detective on the case handles it.  But, it wasn't a simple situation by any means. It was a thriller like no other.