7 Prisoners

 2.5/4

Starring: Christian Malheiros, Rodrigo Santoro, Vitor Julian, Lucas Oranmian

Rated R for Language, Some Violence and a Sexual Reference

Despite the presence of "City of God" director Fernando Meirelles and indie darling Ramin Behrani as the producers and a story that tackles an all too real tragedy, "7 Prisoners" feels like a rehash of old material.  What these men go through is horrible, but co-writer/director Alexandre Moratto makes a serious tactical error: he is apparently under the impression that no one in the audience knows that this kind of thing happens a lot.  Without a fresh approach or strong character development to bulk it up, "7 Prisoners" loses a lot of intensity and fails to deliver the gut punch it strives for.

Mateus (Malheiros) is excited for the future.  He has an opportunity to make a living in the city and send money back home.  Going with him are three other local men.  The squalid living conditions nor the surrender of their IDs do little to dampen their optimism.  Soon however the reality dawns on them: the "job" is a sham and they are being kept as slaves.  Mateus believes that by keeping his head down and doing his job he can free himself.  This endears him to Luca (Santoro), who runs the operation.  By becoming his right hand man, Mateus is introduced to the life he thought he was going to get.  But as Nietzsche once said, "He that fights with monsters should look to himself that does not become a monster."

The fact that Moratto opts for a hyper realistic approach to the material can't paper over the fact that the film has nothing new to say.  We know what will happen before the film reveals it to us, and we can easily predict the trajectory of Mateus's character.  With those two elements being a foregone conclusion, what reason is there to watch the movie?

Strong characters could help the movie avoid boredom, but unfortunately it's lacking in that area too.  Mateus and Luca, the only characters with more than token screen time, aren't especially well developed.  But they have shades to their personalities that would have been interesting had Moratto chosen to explore them.  For example, Luca is obviously a monster for keeping these men imprisoned and engaging in human trafficking.  But at the same time he is beloved in his community and takes a liking to Mateus.  For his part, Mateus keeps his cards close to his chest.  He claims to be playing along to free his fellow captives at the right moment, but is he?  It is a credit to Moratto that he doesn't answer this question until the very end because that ambiguity keeps things interesting.

The performances are solid, but Moratto doesn't go for showmanship.  He's more interested in a documentary-style approach.  Christian Malheiros is rock solid as Mateus, able to handle his character arc and the ambiguity necessary to pull it off.  Rodrigo Santoro continues to impress with his range and versatility in films where he isn't required to speak in English.

"7 Prisoners" has its heart in the right place, but unfortunately that's all the film has going for it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Desert Flower

2/4 Starring: Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson Rated R for Some Violent Content, A Scene of Sexuality and Language The problem with "Desert Flower" is not that Waris Dirie's story isn't suited for the cinematic treatment or that the actress playing her isn't acceptable.  The problem is that director Sherry Hormann doesn't do a good job of telling it.  This is a poorly focused film that can't decide what it wants to be about or what it wants to say. As is the case with many a true story, the life of Waris Dirie is too amazing to be made up by a Hollywood screenwriter.  This woman fled an arranged marriage as a child, spent years as a servant to a Somali diplomat in England, survived on the streets, and was discovered by a fashion photographer while working as a janitor.  Then she became a supermodel and UN Ambassador in the fight against female genital mutilation. Waris experienced a lot in her life.  Telling it all in a...
Read more

The Road

3.5/4 Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron Rated R for Some Violence, Disturbing Images and Language "The Road" has to be the most downbeat, depressing and cynical movie I've ever seen.  That's not meant as a criticism, but a fact.  This is a tough movie to get through, but not a chore.  Those who venture in will find their time well spent, albeit not in a necessarily pleasant way.  Then again, if a movie is based off a novel by Cormac McCarthy, "pleasant" isn't a word one would hope to be used to describe it. The film takes place after the world has ended.  How it happened is not explained because it doesn't matter.  But any hope of the Earth recovering from what happened has long since gone.  A man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) are travelling together, trying to "get to the coast."  There are few people left, although considering what many are doing with the goal of survival, that's a good thing...
Read more

My Left Foot

 2/4 Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Fiona Shaw, Alison Whelan Rated R (probably for Language and Brief Violence) "My Left Foot" feels like one of those movies designed to win Oscars and nothing else.  In fact, it did win two Oscars for the immortal Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker, but apart from their strong work, there's not much else to remember about this movie.  It's well-acted, but all in all it's pretty dull. Christy Brown (Day-Lewis) is getting recognized for his work in order to raise money for the disabled.  Despite being a talented artist and writer, Christy is not the ideal candidate for the job.  He's an alcoholic jerk who makes no secret of his lust for women nor is he above using his disability to manipulate people into doing what he wants.  Interspersed with his attempts to seduce a woman tasked with looking after him while he awaits his entrance are vignettes from his childhood.  Most notably how his mothe...
Read more