À Procura

I'm a big movie bro man guy. Before I delve into a movie I first look at the IMDb rating, read the summary, and then read the reviews. The summary of the movie interested me but I did not have high hopes given the 5/10 rating. Watching this film, I was actually very entertained. I was hanging on the edge of my seat with my eyes glued to the screen.

Right off the rip, the film lets you know what happens to the little girl and who the captor is. The entire movie is the parents working with what seems like the best pedophile detectives ever assembled looking for their daughter. The movie does this Pulp Fiction thing with the past and the present scenes flipping and flopping back and forth to tell the story. No where near Pulp Fiction level, but the film gets the job done telling the story with it.

Viewing this movie it seemed more like a 7 rather than a 5/10. Until the final 15 minutes... Once the climax has hit I like a film to build its ending to a fulfilling satisfying conclusion. Once the end had arrived everything was slammed at you instantly and "Voila!", movie done. I'm not even exaggerating either. There was no build up or suspense to it at all. I can't be remotely descriptive without completely spoiling it. Poor finish to what could have been a good 7.5 film. The potential was there, the delivery was strong but poor finish.

The acting performances were "good". Nothing award worthy or anything, but the cast did "good". Except for Ryan Reynolds. I mean he could have at least tried a little harder to actually look like a devastated father who just lost his only daughter not knowing if she is dead or alive. Instead he looked more like a father who just lost his daughter at a Chuck E. Cheese's for 2 hours who was actually hiding in the ball pit the whole time...

Let me start by stating this isn't the greatest movie ever made - You've only got to look at some of the other reviews to see that. However...

I actually really enjoyed it (maybe because I'm the father of a 10 year old girl, and so could perhaps relate easier, IDK??). Anyway, it really got me hooked from the beginning. Sorry all you haters but it deserves better than a 5/10 score.

Many people moan about the confusing timeline. I honestly can't say I struggled with the story going back and forth. The actors appearances altered accordingly with age, hairstyles, etc... the story actually seemed fairly straight forward to follow without any difficulty. I can easily get muddled up in an awkward film if I lose interest - maybe that's what happened to all the negative critics on here??? Overall, an enjoyable movie (despite the disturbing story) that I'll undoubtedly recommend to family and friends.

This is the last time I take into consideration negative reviews + a low rating. I was very undecided about going to see this movie due to this bad habit of reading reviews on IMDb. It is not the first time a low rated movie turns out to be great, but it is certainly the greatest contrast between reviews and the actual movie. This just proves that most users are probably persons who don't understand a well constructed narrative and don't have an eye for beautiful cinematography. Ryan Reynolds does a great job and so do his co-stars. I also admire Mr. Atom Egoyan for writing, directing and producing this movie. It is a good movie. Go watch it and don't let the rating create low expectations. Hopefully it will exceed the current 5.8.

Man, I wanted this to be good. The idea is definitely there it was just executed badly. The acting and people involved were chosen well, Ryan Reynolds especially I thought did a good job. But that's all the positives from me.

There's just too many issues and plot holes in this, that you can't get past. The "villain" who has the daughter in captive. What's his deal? Why does he act bizarre? There's nothing explained about him at all. This is a common occurrence for a lot of the characters in this. Nobody is explained. No depth.

The lack of character depth then spilt into the plot itself. Certain conversations made no sense, because we have no depth to go off. An example is the convo in the prison (not a spoiler) who is this guy who is giving out demands and acting the top dog, when this scene is literally the only sodding scene he's in. WHO IS HE? Why does he have power? This sets up the next part, but you're left wondering why!

Other major issue was the flashbacks, they were not done correctly at all. Usually when it flashes back it should let us know, even if it's subtle and the characters look different. But no, it's literally the exact same just next shot. So half the time you are clueless that the scene isn't present and is past.

I feel like 5 is slightly generous won't lie, but I'm in a good mood today. It's a watchable film don't get me wrong, but it has a lot of issues. It's a shame because the idea is there, just the execution isn't.

Once again the actual ratings on IMDb are not correct at all to me. This movie deserves a lot more then a 5.8 rating. If it was not for the ending that wasn't that great I would have give it an eight. But for the rest I was really entertained by The Captive. The story is well written and keeps you interested during the whole movie. I'm not a huge fan of movies where the story goes back and forth from past to present but in this one it didn't really bothered me. The cast was well chosen and they all gave us a good performance, especially Mireille Enos. Ryan Reynolds a bit lesser but it was okay. I really felt the disgust for pedophiles through the whole movie. Disgusting predators that should be locked up for life. The movie gives you a good view about their disturbed minds and their complete absence of feelings for their victims. A good movie to watch, don't trust the ratings on here.