Review of Captive (2015) by Christopher E — 05 Jan 2016

"The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose". Although I'm using this notable quote from said film, that doesn't mean that this movie was good. "Captive" is an anemic film that fails to deliver a consistent tone, and although Kate Mara and David Oyelowo did a great job, the movie is nothing more than a weak idea that's not even based off an interesting story.

So "Captive" really is going to be a useful guide for anyone who's looking to make a film, as this movie will show you everything not to do in a film. I'm not really sure where to start, so we might as well get the only positive out of the way.

Oh and by the way, for those interested in this movie that think this is a Christian based movie, or a movie about God, sadly, it really isn't.

The acting in this movie was great. Both Kate Mara and David Oyelowo gave a lot to their roles, and they were by far the best parts of the movie. They both showed their acting skills, and it was present in this movie. Although their characters were actually really pale and ill-natured, that doesn't stray from the fact that I loved seeing them in this film. Now with that out of the way, here we go.

The biggest glaring hole in this movie really is the purpose. When I was watching this, I was really trying to figure out the point of this movie. The direction was everywhere and it's guaranteed that the director did not know where he wanted to go with this movie. Nothing made sense at all, and the movie really was everywhere. When I say "everywhere", I mean that this movie never focused up on one central idea. The movie's plot was scattered everywhere and even now, I can't really tell you what this movie was about. It was a generic-hostage situation where we didn't feel for any of the characters, and by the time the credits rolled, I could've cared less about how the situation played out. That's how little I cared for the characters, and that is all the movie's fault. Is this movie really a religious film? No, was it a hostage situation where you feel sympathy for anyone involved? No. Was it a coming of age story about humanity and finding your purpose in life? Nope. This movie was none of that, and that's exactly what it was advertised to be. This movie really served no purpose, and it wasn't very touching either.

I found out that this movie was actually based on a true story when the credits rolled, which actually made me even more upset. No offense to the people actually involved in this situation, but there was nothing more special about this situation than any other hostage situation. In this movie, I was expecting that we would sympathize and relate to Brian Nichols, but there really was nothing that made me care for him. If anything, I actually think he deserved to face punishment for his actions, as the movie failed to make me see his perspective of the story. None of his actions were justified in this movie, and really, his motives for breaking out weren't that heart-breaking. Ashley Smith is a single mother who's addiction to meth has ruined her relationship with her kid, and now she's trying to rebuild her life. Again, congrats to her for starting over, but the movie failed to make me care for you. I wish this movie had some sort of character development for somebody, but it really didn't.

In a movie like this, we really need to see a relationship of some sorts grow between the captive and the criminal. In this movie, there is nothing built, and by the end of it, we were rooting for the bad guy to go to jail and the mother to go to rehab. Nothing in the movie was inspiring or heartbreaking, and nothing got my emotions running. This is a poorly executed movie based off an everyday hostage situation, with characters we frankly don't care about due to the movie's lack of self-awareness.

This movie had plenty of potential, and I was actually really looking forward to it. But in the end, Kate Mara and David Oyelowo were the only things keeping this movie from being an absolute train-wreck, and there were no other bright spots to this film. It's as if the directors and writers threw a whole bunch of random ideas onto the floor, picked them up in a random order, and threw them at the screen. There was no thought put into this movie, and it was a huge disappointment. The talent in this movie is enough to barely give it, 1 star.