Trapped

This is the kind of story we have seen too many times.Even the "new" element -the victim needs medicines- has already been used.In "Verdict" (André Cayatte,1974),for instance, Sophia Loren abducted a judge's wife who was a diabetic .I felt sorry for Kevin Bacon ,a great great actor who is not always given the parts he deserves -as for instance in "mystic river"- All is finally too predictable and the film is handicapped by poor acting by Courtney Love (whose part is uninteresting anyway,it resembles those of Claire Trevor in films noirs).The best sequence remains for me the one when Bacon and Theron pretend they are lovers,the only really suspenseful moment.The doctor character is completely incredible:this frail young man suddenly doing aerobatics is too much !

A trio of kidnappers pick the wrong couple to mess with. One of the kidnappers takes the kid, another, Courtney Love, stays with the dad, while the other, Kevin Bacon, watches the mom. Of course they tell the parents just to go along and it will all be over with in 24 hours. So of course, the mom, Charlize Theron, doesn't do what she's told, putting her daughter in more danger. Some of the scenes between the kidnappers and the parents are pretty good. This isn't a boring movie. So, things eventually go wrong and the kidnappers start changing their plans. And eventually, the dad, Stuart Townsend, gets Courtney Love to tell him where the kid is. She does because she believes her partner plans to kill the child any ways.

So, we get a few good chase scenes involving a plane and the interstate. My big complaint is the dad decides to land his plane on the road, not seeming to care how many people he might kill from causing car wrecks. Well, there are a bunch of wrecks, but apparently no one gets killed. But, that was just too out of character since he is supposed to be a doctor and all. The ending also fails any a way because it reverts to the old, the bad guy must be killed "multiple times" to actually die.

FINAL VERDICT: It is semi-entertaining. And Kevin Bacon does make a good bad guy. It's worth watching if you see it on cable some night.

I hadn't even heard of this movie and was surprised to find not one or two but 5 great actors in this movie. And I can see why. This is a smart thriller about a kidnapping. This sort of starts off as a typical Hollywood blockbuster and it certainly ends like one but the story and the way it unfolds is very good.

This was a strong script with beautiful cinematography (again, in Vancouver), great acting. Theron proves here once more that she is a strong actress with much skill and much more potential. To boot, this has a really great action sequence near the end. A good, entertaining movie, this is a definite watch.

8/10

Average. The movie is full of clichés and most of all, the ending is totally unrealistic and overblown.

Otherwise, if they had stuck to the basic plot, this could have been a nice little thriller, especially because on average, the acting was pretty good (especially Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon). As usual, for some reason Hollywood producers (or Directors) feel it necessary to cram movies with tons of unnecessary subplots most of the time, as well as add minutes of ridiculous 'action scenes' which usually make the films look unreal and unbelievable to the audience. Do they really think the average moviegoer is a moron? In this case, the ending definitely ruined what could have been a good thriller...

Love the beginning. The premise of the movie is set up beautifully, tightly, but a garbled ending with too many plot lines begun in the last third of the movie dooms the project. It dissipates interest when a director arbitrarily introduces motives that had not been foreshadowed. Competent actors in what is eventually a lifeless vehicle, despite the chase, collisions, smoke and noise.