PRISONER

If you like Who Done It mysteries you will like this one.  The story takes a strong hold on you right from the start.  It transports you to a small town in Pennsylvania on a rainy dismal day.   Two families are gathering to share a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.   Two of the young girls take a break to play outside.  After a longer than normal absence is noted they realize that the girls are missing.  The police are notified and a neighborhood search party is formed.  The father of one little girl, Hugh Jackman, is desperate to find his daughter.  A policeman, Jake Gyllenhaal, is put in charge of the case.

The girls were last seen playing near an old while RV that was seen parked on the street.  It is traced to a young man who lives near by who is not mentally stable.  He is questioned by the police but they do not have any evidence against him so they release him.  The father of the little girl is not satisfied with the way the case is being handled by the police and takes matters into his own hands.  He abducts the suspect and proceeds to torture him unmercifully hoping for a confession as to the whereabouts of his daughter.  The police are not aware of this as they continue to search for new suspects, finding them, questioning them.  The family is grief stricken and trying to endure  the endless search for the children and their kidnappers, in the meantime the fathers rage continues to build and get out of control.

There are so many twists and turns to this extra long movie, keeping your attention every moment.  The ending is unusual and has you guessing right to the very last moment.  I cannot reveal the ending so you will have to see for yourself.  The acting was well done, the scenes and the music couldn't be better.  I can see some awards for this one.

The Family

I was excited when I saw the coming attractions for "The Family".  Being a fan of Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones was enough for me to imagine an enjoyable experience in store ....instead....it was a long hard grind watching a gangster and his family from Brooklyn relocated (under a witness protection program) to a small town in Normandy trying to lead a normal life. 

Michelle Pfeiffer plays her role well as wife and mother.  De Niro is a snitch and the mob is out to find him.  He finds an old typewriter in the house that they will now live in and decides to be a writer. He has a desire to write about his life as a mobster but is warned against the dangers of this.

The family looks like it is drifting apart  but when their whereabouts become known, due to unusual circumstances  the mob finds them.  There's lots of shooting and the family ends up killing the bad guys.  After that the family seems to bond again and they are seen riding into the sunset in their car (with Tommy Lee Jones in charge) with new identities.  De Niro is miffed because he will have to rewrite his story again with new names.

Closed Circuit

This movie is not for everyone.  If you like mystery thrillers like Perry Mason or Matlock you will settle into the story comfortably right from the beginning.

My sister who lives in Washington, D.C. could relate to the fact that the  scene takes place in a bustling London food market similar to their Eastern Market.
It leaves me thinking, how could a thing like a terrorist explosion attack happen in a place like that.

While some beautiful scenes of London were shown there was a great deal of panic and confusion going on.

The cast was well selected, especially the two main characters fighting to expose the truth as to who was responsible for the bombing and what part the British government played in all the suspense and intrigue as the country prepared for  one of the most profiled trials in British history.  The British justice system is quite different from ours,, they had more than one lawyer representing the accused...some secret private court sessions (at times wearing wigs)

A lot going on, closed circuit cameras everywhere, government surveillance,close friends spying on each other, secret meetings, closed court hearings with no justice.  The two lawyers busy from beginning to end fighting for the system, fighting against the system, they find out that they are being set up.  They are fighting for their lives protecting themselves and their witnesses because their lives are in danger.

We pretty much knew who the bad guys were but as in some British movies you don't always get what they are trying to tell you all the time…this was one of those times. 

The acting was well done but I don't think we should look for any awards for this one.

The Grandmaster

If you like to watch balletic kung fu fighting THIS IS A MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN. tHE cinematography SHOULD win an oscar the acting was superb.  I didn't realize it was subtitles until I got to the theatre …I like foreign films and sub titles are fine with me … to say the least IT GETS MY FOUR  * * * * 's. 

Welcome to Jeanie's Movie Blog.

Your sisters think you should share your journalistic talents and movie going insights so we initiated this blogger.  Happy Birthday big sis!!