The daughter of Dr. William Jennings (Stuart Townsend) and Karen Jennings (Charlize Therron), the asthmatic Abigail (Dakota Fanning), is kidnapped by an experienced and well-organized gang. The leader Joe Hickey (Kevin Bacon) stays with Karen in the house of the family; his wife Cheryl Hickey (Courtney Love) stays with Dr. Jennings, in a hotel room, after his speech in a medical conference; and the third member, Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince), stays with the little girl in an isolated house until the ransom of US$ 250,000.00 is paid by her parents. The criminals contact each other every thirty minutes, to confirm that everything is working in accordance with their planning. The premise of this movie is scary, specially for persons like me, who live in a Third World country, where kidnappings frequently happen. The plan of the outlaws is original and very well organized, and may give new bad ideas for bandits. However, in a certain point of the story, the plot is so exaggerated and incredible that becomes near to ridiculous. The American film industry does not have enough courage to make a movie violent like the amazing `Funny Games', just as an example. Therefore, the end of this type of story is very predictable. We know that in the end the child will return to the parents etc. It is very difficult to have an amoral, violent and non-commercial end. In this film, the behavior of the characters, the car / airplane chase and accident on the road are so predictable, so full of cliches, so silly, that disappointed me a lot. The beginning was good, but the conclusion was terrible. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): Encurralada' (`Trapped')
Title (Brazil): Encurralada' (`Trapped')