Review of The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009) by Walter M — 14 Aug 2010

In "The Disapperance of Alice Creed," Danny(Martin Compston) and Vic(Eddie Marsan) kidnap Alice(Gemma Arterton, giving a fearless performance), a rich party girl, off the street. They take her back to a soundproofed apartment, handcuff her to a bed, strip her, take photos and then dress her in a sweatsuit. They are wearing masks in front of her, so it is unlikely they want to kill her.(Thank you "Burn Notice" for this factoid.) Their intentions become clear when they send one of the photos to her dad as part of a ransom demand for 2 million pounds.

"The Disapperance of Alice Creed" is the kind of movie they do not make anymore. It is a lean, mean, spare thriller with a couple of game changing twists that add a great deal of tension to a movie that would have not held up as well if it had gone straight ahead. While the movie is nasty fun, it is not repugnant. The moral of the story is how emotions should be kept out of any business transactions. And in the more extreme ones, you get to see what people are really made of. Although, not to give anybody any bad ideas, I am left wondering if they profile people who make certain purchases in home improvement stores.