[Captivity]
Plot:A fashion model named Jennifer and her chauffeur are kidnapped by a serial killer. During their ordeal, Jennifer and her chauffeur find a way to stay strong, fall in love, and plan their escape.

Cast: Elisha Cuthbert, Daniel Gillies, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Laz Alonso, Michael Harney.

My Thoughts: Being held captive has never been so boring.

Review:Despite the slick ad campaign which caused quite a stir a few weeks ago where billboards featuring one Elisha Cuthbert strapped to a table with sadistic devices attached to parts of her body, there really isn't anything extremely brutal about "Captivity". Well...unles you're the viewer, then the brutal part is having to sit through such an atrocity. The story starts with a mysterious person torturing and quickly killing some poor unlucky soul strapped to a table. Soon after that quite gruesome scene....the movie introduces us to Jennifer (Elisha Cuthbert). The usual pretty model type who's plastered on billboards all over town, has her own perfume, etc. etc. It isn't long before our mystery man nabs Jennifer and in "Saw" fashion, she awakes to find herself in a mysterious chamber with no clue of how she got here. If "Captivity" were "Saw", this is where things would get interesting and suspenseful. Instead....this is the beginning of the films spiral into the depths of boredom and redundancy. I suppose coming off of a slasher movie like "House of Wax", where Elisha did the usual run, scream, fight the killer dealie....this was supposed to be a film where she displays her acting talents and says to the world "I'm a serious actress". The problem with that is, it just doesn't work in "Captivity", mainly because she really isn't given much to do. Once she awakes in this place, she stumbles around trying to find a way out, or shes screaming for help. And when she's not doing that, she's getting slipped objects such as tapes and clothing through a mysterious slot in the wall or being watched on some monitors by the creepy mystery man who's snatched her. Not exactly the most exciting string of events. I mean honestly, the most exciting thing to happen in the films first half hour is a scene where Jennifer's senses are assaulted by a weird sound effect device eminating from outside her prison. Seriously, that's about as exciting as "Captivty" gets around the 36 minute mark. While Jennifer is imprisoned, two police officers are quickly assigned to the case and begin tracking down leads in usual detective team fashion. But even the cops in this movie are a bore. They're the typical detectives you'd see in any horror film. However, they're smart enough to know that they must find Jennifer because we certainly can't have an uber hot and uber famous model going MIA for too long now can we? Kind of funny considering the poor person at the beginning who is killed is never mentioned nor are any detectives ever assigned to try and find them. I guess it's only an important missing person's case when a supermodel's involved. Anyhow, the cops early on get very little help and very little to go on but it's okay because the killer is just having so much fun leaving Jennifer to rot in her dark, dank, dingy, (and probably asbestos ridden) prison. But alas, the film turns off the sleeping gas for awhile and makes things intriguing (atleast somewhat) by revealing Jennifer's chauffeur Gary (Daniel Gillies) has also been nabbed by the crazy mystery man. The two find time to catch up on old times (like the good ole days when they weren't being held prisoner) and he even manages to save her from a pretty clever sand drowning device. There does come a point eventually when the two try and escape but in one of the movies only funny moments, such an attempt proves to be futile. Mostly through the fault of Gary. While I was watching this picture, I kind of got the feeling that director Roland Jaffe should've written this picture. His directing style is superb and very creative, but the script was penned by Joseph Tura and surprisingly Larry Cohen. Now I don't know too much about Tura's writing style but I expected way better from Cohen. Too bad I didn't get it. At any rate, our keystone cops finally make it to where Jennifer is being held, and by this time some predictable twists (which I won't spoil here) have taken place and I'd love to say what happens during the films final 20 minutes I didn't see coming but I'd just be full of crap if I did. Quite honestly, "Captivity" makes a noble attempt at throwing a few curveballs but nobility doesn't always equal success. Especially in this films case. Although the ending does offer up one positive moment..with Elisha Cuthbert doing her best Linda Hamilton impression, wielding a shotgun and proving she knows how to use it. And considering the previous hour and 20 minutes which comes before that was a total waste of time, it was the least they could do.

Positives:Elisha weilding a shotgun at the end. The opening scene of the movie was very impactful. Elisha does the best she can with what she's given character wise.

Negatives: Bad script, lack of suspense or entertainment value. Poor acting by most of the cast. Hardly any blood except for the opening scene.

Overall:Holding someone in captivity and forcing them to watch this movie on loop would be worse torture than anything any of the characters in this film suffered through.





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