Trapped (2002)

Director:

Luis Mandoki

Writers (WGA):

Greg Iles (novel)
Greg Iles (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Fear Strikes Back.

Plot:

When their daughter is kidnapped by experienced nappers (Bacon and Love), the Jennings' (Theron and Townsend) turn the tables on this seemingly foolproof plan.

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Shot In The Chest | Punched In The Face | Writing In Blood | Neighbor Neighbor Relationship

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Jan. 2

1:00 PM

LIFE

Cast

Charlize Theron	...	Karen
Courtney Love	...	Cheryl
Stuart Townsend	...	Will
Kevin Bacon	...	Hickey
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Marvin
Dakota Fanning	...	Abby Jennings
Steve Rankin	...	Hank Ferris
Gary Chalk	...	Agent Chalmers (as Garry Chalk)
Jodie Markell	...	Mary McDill
Matt Koby	...	Peter McDill
Gerry Becker	...	Dr. Stein
Andrew Airlie	...	Holden
Randi Lynne	...	Hotel Operator
Colleen Camp	...	Joan Evans
J.B. Bivens	...	Gray Davidson

Also Known As:

24 Hours (USA) (working title)
24 Stunden Angst (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and sexual content.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (No. 38424) | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

Actress Courtney Love suffered a miscarriage during filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Will and Cheryl are in the plane, Will partially removes his headset. In the next shot, it is gone. In the next shot it is partially on again.

Quotes:

Hickey: A kid can stand anything for 24 hours. I had to stand alot worse for years.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Simpsons" (1989)

Trapped: 3/10

As far as I know, Trapped changed its title from the title of the book it was based on, 24 Hours, for one reason alone. Columbia didn't want people to get it confused with such classy things like the movie The Hours and the TV show 24. So they gave it the general, overused title of Trapped, which says absolutely nothing about the plot or the situation they're in. Instead, you feel trapped because you desperately do not want to finish watching the movie but you're hoping for something good and hopefully a sex scene that would make this movie an R (it has `sexual content' in its MPAA rating). What we get is a horribly clichéd, basic plot with horribly clichéd, basic characters doing horribly clichéd, basic things.

All throughout the movie, there was a certain feel to it, almost like a direct-to-video fare, like Gale Force. It had a very cheesy feel to it; almost as if they didn't care about how it looked. Then, however, I saw in the beginning how much director Luis Mandoki (whose other efforts include Angel Eyes and Message in a Bottle) relied on doing what could be considered `trendy' filmmaking. The opening scene (which was utterly pointless) was filmed in some odd bluish tint that made everything hard to see. A gimmick that would have worked would have been to put it into real time. That would have been something rarely used in movies. The camera also seemed rather amateurish; at times, to show that it was one take (maybe to show how great these actors were…), the camera whipped from one actor to the next. And people thought The Blair Witch Project was nauseating.

Of course, where would stupid junk like this be without its stupid coincidences? The father (Stuart Townsend) drives an airplane (to a convention he can drive to, no less) once, and then, right when he needs one to escape, he finds one and flies it perfectly! If he's supposed to be a young father, how could he have gone through all of medical school, settled down and gotten married, AND gotten his pilot's license? It also forgot important plot points, such as one of the kidnappers needed to call another every half hour, although he didn't for what would be a few hours.

The acting…well, I'll go one at a time. Charlize Theron seemed to think she was something special for her role, while anyone who could a) cry for an entire movie and b) be able to fit a scalpel into her derriere. Kevin Bacon must have needed a paycheck more than he needed one at the time of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, for he isn't really trying here. Courtney Love is really the only one that works, amazingly enough; even Dakota Fanning was off cue and just saying lines with her typical `I'm young, cute, and I cry in every movie!' shtick.

The only, and ONLY, redeeming value of Trapped is that occasionally it had some tense moments, but they were few and far between due to the lack of characterization. It's sad when we not only know more about the bad guys than the good guys but we're rooting for Bacon and Love. I was almost ready to jump up and yell to the TV (which looked like it had a lot cut off for a full-screen version of it) to just have Bacon murder Theron and then the movie be done with. However, I had to endure it, and it didn't get any better.

My rating: 3/10

Rated R for violence, language and sexual content.