Captive (2015)

It starts out really well. With great introductions to our characters and it really brings the suspense and drama. Unfortunately, later on in the film the drama and suspense slowly fades. The actors are spectacular and strong in this movie, but I believe the weakness would be the pace of the film. Our main characters get to comfortable with one another to quickly. That bond between them never really seems to feel natural. The film is a little short, and I believe it could have had a longer run time. Also, the religious aspect that comes into the story feels a little rushed. I think if they stretched out the run time, the drama, the suspense, and polished the script a little bit more we could have had a better movie. That does not mean it is bad, just this movie could have been so much more.

Raise your hand if you thought this movie was going to be about a man getting saved by Jesus after a woman talked to him about it while he held her hostage? Well... that is not what this movie is about. This movie is about a mentally unstable man spending 7 hours or so with a strange woman he selected at random in a parking lot to chill with because he was lonely or something. The movie's main resolution is that she overcomes her meth problem, she turns in the alleged "monster", and she goes on to Oprah to share her horrific story and meet Rick Warren. Granted, the real story is problem a thousand times better than the movie version. But the movie version sucks. You will not feel satisfied. You will not see God working through these people (well sort of but not in a way that moves you to tears). Go read the purpose drive life and pretend this movie never happened.

I generally loathe so-called "inspirational" true stories, and at first was ready to give up on this generic two-lives-in-collision movie. I'm glad I stuck with it because David Oyewolo really delivers the goods , as opposed to the rest of the cast, who seems to be phoning it in prior to cashing their paychecks. I never got a sense of Kate Mara as a character, even though she is one of the main protagonists. Oyewolo, however, is a revelation, bringing to life a range of emotions from desperation and despair, tenderness, remorse, and ultimately realization of the impact of his actions. There is a particularly nuanced scene as he is speaking to his baby son which is extremely powerful without being over-the-top. Oyewolo is definitely one actor to watch!

Review: Although this movie is based on a traumatic, true story, there isn't much depth to the characters, especially Brian Nichols who seemed to be going through a personal breakdown. The movie jumps straight into the main event, so the audience won't understand why Nichols is randomly killing people whilst escaping from jail. With that aside, it's full of intensity and drama and the acting from Oyelowo and Mara is top class. If you wasn't aware of the events that happened in Atlanta on March the 11th, 2005, as I wasn't, the movie is about Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo), who escapes from the Fulton County courthouse, during his trial involving a rape case. During his escape, he murders the judge who took his case, along with a reporter and a sergeant. Whilst on the run, he kills an off-duty special agent and he takes Ashley Smith (Kate Mara) hostage in her home. Ashley is a single parent who is an recovering methamphetamine addict and she is due to see her child, who is living with her aunt, Kim Rogers (Mimi Rogers), the following morning. While he is holding her hostage, he asks for some Marijuana to calm him down but she has only got methamphetamine in her house, so he takes the drug and immediately starts to talk about running to Mexico after kidnapping his new born son. He tries to false her to take some of the "Meth" but she hasn't taken the drug for over a month and she really wants to be clean when she sees her daughter. When he has finally calms down, they get rid of the truck that he was driving and then they make there way back to her house. The following day, they have breakfast while Ashley is reading, The Purpose Driven Life to Brian who is seeking redemption for his actions. He then let's Ashley see her daughter and when she leaves the house, she contacts the police who head straight for her house. Brian knows what's coming but he doesn't attempt to leave the house because he has reached his own personal crossroad. When they finally have the house surrounded, Detective John Chestnut (Michael K. Chestnut), tries to talk Brian into surrendering but when he realises that he isn't getting anywhere, he asks Ashley for her help, who eventually gets Brian to come out of the house. Its a set of astonishing true events which shocked America at that time. I personally don't remember hearing anything about Brian Nichols in 2005, so it was good to see the real people at the end of the movie. The fact that it was her new found faith that saved Ashley's life and the redemption that Brian found through the book that she read to him, made this an emotional movie which brought these two lost souls together at the pinnacle point of there life's. I would have liked to have seen this movie in a bigger scale because it does seem slightly low budget. Apart from that, it's a watchable film which I found quite interesting throughout. Watchable!Round-Up: UK born, David Oyelowo, 39, has gained some respect in Hollywood since his role in Spooks in 2002. He's starred in some major movies, like the Last King of Scotland, the Help in 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the Paperboy, Red Tails, Lincoln, Jack Reacher and the Butler. He played the lead as Martin Luther King in Selma and he also had a role in the big budget Interstellar and I was impressed with his performance in A Most Violent Year. Most of the actors came on board, in this movie because of Oyelowo's respectable name and his whole physic and violent demeanour, proves that he was willing to play a character that was out of his comfort zone, to make the movie realistic and true to the actual events. Anyway, this movie was directed by Jerry Jameson, 81, who is known for his work in the TV department. He has made episodes for Cannon, Six Million Dollar Man, McCloud, the Streets of San Francisco, Iron side, Dallas, Hawaii Five-0, Magnum P.I., etc. He did direct the movie Airport '77 but apart from that, this is his first movie for the big screen for some time. I personally enjoyed the movie and it did make me want to find out more about the true events but it really needed a big budget and some big names to bring this subject matter to the forefront. Budget: $2million Worldwide Gross: $2.8millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama/thrillers starring Kate Mara, David Oyelowo, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mimi Rogers, Elle Graham and Claudia Church. 5/10