Cleveland Abduction (2015)

This movie is the best movie that i have ever watched it was a sad movie but like always there was a happy ending. i am sorry for those three girls that were held captive in that house. and to Ariel Castro i hope you riot in prison. I'm only 14 and i have never said that to anyone. i didn't believe that he held those girls captive. Ariel Castro is a sick mentally ill man that i hope no likes. i strongly hate you and i hope i don't have to say that to anyone else but you. 11 years that man held these girls and rapped them made one have an abortion. but then he let one have a little girl what was he going to rap that little girl to.

Taryn Manning plays a tremendous part in this true story. While I understand many viewers frustration at the focus being mostly on Michelle's character, I believe that it is important to remember that the film is based mostly on Michelle's book which helped steer the story in that direction. Although difficult to watch at times due to the implied brutality, I was unable to take my eyes from the screen the entire movie. Depicts the story of these 3 young girls (and not forgetting the daughter) excellently while allowing an understanding as to why the girls were never able to escape. This would have been an 8 star review if not for the performance of Taryn Manning, which bumps it up to 9 stars.

Cleveland Abduction is very identical to case documentary or event reenactment, and it's highly effective. It doesn't present too much glossy cinematography to make it as authentic as possible, though still with enough restriction for the delicate subject. Acting from Taryn Manning and Raymond Cruz, the captor and captive, are brazenly intimidating to highlight the gruesome struggle.It follows the event of actual kidnapping where a man, Ariel Castro (Raymond Cruz) abducts three women for eleven years. The movie depicts this horrendous act with superior acting and true to life visual. It occasionally looks devoid of color, grainy and dirty, while some of the outdoor scenery seems refreshing with cool ambiance. This presents the urban location in accurate perspective along with its darker shade.Much of its better moments are from the good performance by the actors. It has surprisingly tender and sorrowful moments, all of which look genuine. This is not a well-orchestrated crime, yet it's incredibly shocking that the real person can maintain the act for so long. Raymond Cruz is a good cast for the role, he's often sickeningly brutal and easily becomes the fitting antagonist.However, it does have some flaws. Several of the scenes try to depict the abuse, but they might feel heavy-handed in the approach. The camera is sometimes out of focus, it's probably intentional to induce realism, though it's a bit comfortable at times. The pace tends to screech a bit towards the second half despite the good intention of showing the aftermath or restrain for more gory moments. These don't take away the venerable effort to convey its message though.Keeping the story grounded, it manages to tell the abusive story and its ramification with equal poise and intimate outlook.

Vapid, bland acting on the part of the lead who plays Michelle Knight, does not look like her, act like her, talk like her, I cannot understand why this untalented woman was cast as this part. She showed the least emotion of the three female actresses and I was wincing more for how bad her acting was than how horribly Michelle Knight was treated. I read Michelle's book and have studied this case and watched her interviews, this lead was horribly miscast. The male lead was not much better, he was way too good-looking to be that demon-man monster, he was too nice and not psychopathic enough at all. It was way too much of a story to cram into 90 minutes, I am not sure any movie or documentary or book will ever do justice to what happened to these girls and the daughter produced in captivity. The actresses who played Gina and Amanda were far better cast and were credible actors. As far as the storyline, it was superficial and glossed over so many important issues, like how the police ignored this man-- a man who had beaten his common-law wife to a pulp years before kidnapping these girls, how the police came to the home when there were reports of screams and noises and did not attempt to enter; how somehow this man was not considered a suspect in the circle of at least Gina's world when he had a violent history and knew her by way of his own daughter. I am stunned the police were this blind, how this man was literally hiding in plain sight for so long. My best wishes for these four victims in that home is that that their futures are filled with every good thing that they would like from now on, that they will find love and appreciation and healing and fulfillment. But if you do not know the story do not rely on this cheeseball Lifetime show. Read Michelle's book, read Amanda and Gina's book, watch their interviews. This was a waste of time and did not do them justice in any way. Someone out there make a better movie than this about what happened for 11 years in Cleveland!