Eight years ago, director Denis Villeneuve directed Prisoners. The title Prisoners still grabs my attention today as much as it did in 2013. The film is a silent, yet haunting thriller that holds its viewers on the edge of their seats. With many questions, no answers, tons of lacking evidence, and one man that will take risks in his own hands to find his daughter. Despite all the efforts the assigned detective is doing, that may not be enough. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performances are riveting and outstanding. Villeneuve’s directing makes us wonder who is more of the one to trust in a film where time of the essence of survival is critical.

The film begins on Thanksgiving with Keller Dover (Jackman), Grace Dover (played by Maria Bello), and their kids Ralph Dover (played by Dylan Minnette), and Anna Dover (played by Erin Gerasimovich). The Dover’s have Thanksgiving dinner at their neighbor’s house, and they are the Birch family. This includes Franklin and Nancy Birch (played by Terrence Howard and Viola Davis), and their daughter Eliza Birch (played by Zoe Soul). After the thanksgiving festivities Anna and Eliza decide to go over to the Dover’s to hangout, then after a while both families come to realize their daughters are not to be found. Both families are in panic mode and scared. They realize there is only one lead being an RV on their street because of how both Anna and Eliza played on it earlier in the day. The police get involved and there is a detective assigned and he is Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal). He finds the RV and a victim in the RV established. That victim is Alex Jones (played by Paul Dano). Jones was driving the RV but has a low IQ and delays in communication. Mr. Dover believes that Alex is either the kidnapper or is associated with why his daughter is missing. As the authorities go lenient on Alex (due to his mental state of mind and lack of evidence), Mr. Dover begins to take drastic steps to find the answers of where his daughter might be. But also, Detective Loki questions Mr. Dover’s thinking.

What sold me on Prisoners so much was the conflict of conversations between Mr. Dover and Detective Loki. Detective Loki knows Mr. Dover may be up to no good (and he is up to no good), but also the leads or evidence to find the daughters are little. The film becomes a raise for three problems. The first one being the girls missing, the second one being what Mr. Dover is doing to try and find his daughter, and the other being little to no time for survival of the missing girls. The judgment of both the individuals are mentally stressful. At the same time more harm or danger is building for everyone. Prisoners has a trail of deceit, dishonesty, and evidence that fail where Detective Loki and Mr. Dover begin to not be able to mentally handle the situation.

Prisoners is a masterpiece with obscurity done thoroughly. The suspense is eerie and so is its faded cinematography and spooky use of music. The outcomes in the investigations are unsettling. Despite how creepy Prisoners gets, it characterizes suspense. Four stars!

With summer abound and this year starting to feel like a year for films again, I saw Heat at the Music Box of downtown Chicago. Heat is one of the best films directed by Michael Mann. This nostalgic experience was worth the experience at the Music Box. When it comes to heist films, Heat is one of those thrillers where the risks are high, and the cat and mouse game gets more suspenseful in many ways. Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino are just brilliant in this thriller, and from both being part of the Godfather series, re-experiencing Heat made me feel that both characters meet again but are on different sides.

Heat takes place in Los Angeles in the 1990s. The film gears on professional bank robbers where a mission goes awry. The head of the thieves is Neil McCauley (DeNiro) and his assistant in his heists operations is Chris Shiherlis (played by Val Kilmer). The detective onto their cases is Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino). The film takes a toll on both McCauley and Hanna as they both are after each other but also trying to maintain their troubled lives and careers as the case worsens. It is only a matter of time before one or both (cop and criminal) fall into being in much trouble.

In Heat I come to realize that the film is almost at the three-hour mark. The film did not feel like three hours. The puzzles, the shootouts, the case operations all make the time pass and then make one mission go awry, while another needs to be investigated or on surveillance. Pacino and DeNiro’s performances add to the tension and the excitement as both are known to portray characters that are short-fused. With Pacino, his performance reminded me a lot of Scarface (1983), but now he is not the one who is the criminal, he is the one after the criminals, but displays that anger as he did play Tony Montana. Along with DeNiro having the attitude as he did as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976), however DeNiro is still the criminal in Heat.

Overall, this was an experience that was not to be missed. I find that watching these thrillers many years later the big screen feels like a new experience. Especially for those who have not watched Heat before, or who have not watched it in a while. The film is still a thrill ride of crazy shootouts and tension that is a stellar time. Four stars for Heat.

The Courier is a spy and espionage thriller (directed by Dominic Cooke) with structure and deceit. The approach of confidentiality in the film finds its violations (discreetly). The Courier is a true story where it feels the conflicts are setup chronologically. The events that begin to happen one-by-one drives the questions of trust and honesty between the two men who are involved in the espionage of trying to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, its more about being curious to whose side is Greville Wynne (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is on.

The Courier gears on the true story of Greville Wynne in the early 1960s in London. Greville Wynne is a businessman and is recruited to be a spy for The Cold War and finds himself in a partnership with a Soviet Officer Oleg Penkovsky (played by Merab Ninidze). Their strategies they begin to implement is to find ways to prevent attacks of terrorism that are nuclear. They ultimately must find a solution to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This leaves Greville to go to Moscow consistently. The further they go with being secretive from the government they work for, there begins to be more dangerous and uncharted territory that both Greville and Oleg may not be able to avoid. The fact that The Courier is based on actual events is where the events become unnerving.

I found myself feeling spellbinding moments as the risks in The Courier continually grow and worsen. That is where the performances are just outstanding along with questioning if there is going to be light for the dangerous territory The Courier crosses. The job of being discreet becomes challenging for Greville and Oleg as many government officials question their behavior. There is also moments of dishonesty and misinterpretations of how risky the job of stopping the Cuban Missile Crisis is. The film leaves a trail of suspense, and I kept asking myself is any of these scenarios going to find resolution or only going to result in danger?

The Courier felt a lot like The Imitation Game (2014). Cumberbatch was also in that and in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Both films that previously deal with safety in terms of intelligence among the international governments. Cumberbatch’s performance in The Courier defines him as one that is the perfect fit for these real-life government suspense thrillers. He has the authoritative voice, the stature, and the mindset like a government official which he plays so well and portrays them in many realistic ways. His performance in The Courier is a knockout performance.

The Courier is brilliant and directed well. For a film based on real-life events, it holds the attention. The dramatic scenarios and the deceitful elements are engrossing. This is one of those films that many will not want to miss. Cumberbatch is what steals the film for his brilliant performance. Three and a half stars.