Prisoners was a film I watched on a whim, one I knew absolutely nothing about, and I was blown away by the dense plotting, novelistic structure, and moral and intellectual complexity. Prisoners is a superb crime procedural that gets exponentially deeper and richer as it moves along, right up to its closing moments. As an emotionally struggling, ethically compromised father, Hugh Jackman gives what I think is easily the best performance of his career, while the grounded work Jake Gyllenhaal does as a detective fighting to stay cold and detached during the most horrific investigation of his life is outstanding. Factor in the brilliant, haunting cinematography by the great Roger Deakins and sharp direction from Denis Villeneuve, a filmmaker whose prior work I am unfamiliar with, and this is definitely one of the year’s best, albeit one that has, to my eyes at least, been oddly underrated.
Prisoners is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
[h2]Rush[/h2]
Far and away the best film Ron Howard has made since 1995’s Apollo 13, Rush is the historical narrative at its best, a stirring evocation of the infamous 1976 Formula One racing season that doubles as both a tremendous character study and one of the sharpest, smartest portraits of masculinity in modern mainstream film. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl are each spectacular as James Hunt and Niki Lauda, respectively, with Brühl’s mastery of his own face and facial expressions recalling the works of the silent film greats. Howard’s direction and Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography are positively inspired, and alongside Man of Steel and 12 Years of Slave, this is one of three truly great Hans Zimmer scores of the year. In a less crowded year, this really feels like the kind of movie that would have made my Top 10 – as it stands, it is still undoubtedly one of the year’s best.
Rush arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray January 28th.
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