Prisoners

Prisoners (2013) starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano. Two little girls, two six-year-olds, are abducted, and their parents begin a frantic search for them. On father (Jackman) abducts a suspect and tortures him horribly to try to get him to tell where the children are. Meanwhile, a detective (Gyllenhaal) methodically pursues the case, making progress even though the case is murky and strange. The ending is a bona fide surprise, and I give the movie marks for this. The tangled plot works out pretty neatly, and it made for a fascinating, if sometimes gruesome, watch. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B+