Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Trapped Blu-ray Movie Review

An ensnaring movie.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 22, 2013

Kidnappings and ransoms and double-crosses and inescapable situations are all hallmarks of the standard Thriller, but they're all kicked up a couple of notches in Director Luis Mandoki's (Born Yesterday) Trapped, an entertaining and reasonably good adaptation of the Greg Iles novel, 24 Hours. Iles' book is a fast read and a rather intense one at that. Both the book and its counterpart film expertly shuffle together all of the genre clichés into a firm and spirited tale of a very well-conceived kidnapping that becomes unraveled and reforms as a complex organism shaped by two opposing forces, neither willing to give an inch but both ready to sacrifice everything in the name of victory. In the middle is a sickly young girl, the necessary pawn caught in the midst of a dangerous game in which one side comes in prepared and the other blindsided. It's a story of adaptation, of outthinking and out maneuvering the opposition, about the battle for supremacy and the fate of a child whose life depends on the fastest thinker rather than the one holding the weapon, and seemingly, all the cards.

Very trapped.

While mother Karen (Charlize Theron) and daughter Abby (Dakota Fanning) enjoy a beautiful lakefront home, father Will (Stuart Townsend) flies to an important medical conference where he'll be introducing a powerful new sedative of his own design. Soon after he departs, Abby is kidnapped. She's taken to a secluded cabin. Karen is confronted by Joe (Kevin Bacon) and is informed that unless he calls his cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince) every thirty minutes, Abby will be killed (better hope the cell towers remain online). His demand: $250,000. Meanwhile, Will is taken hostage in his hotel room by Joe's wife, Cheryl (Courtney Love). As the night plays out, the kidnappers learn that Abby is a sickly child who may not survive the night. As the struggle for her life and Joe's money ensues, a battle of wits explodes into a dangerous display of daring and one-upmanship that's sure not to end well for one side or the other.

Trapped doesn't dance around its story or lighten the burden of its dramatic load. It takes only the obligatory minutes to introduce audiences to the characters and family dynamic before breaking into a full-on one-hundered minute sprint towards the finish line. It's a movie with attitude and an unnerving story. It's intense and reinforced by quality performances that command the screen in every scene. The film is like a seesaw, with opposing sides on either end and the balance of power constantly shifting from one to another. Traditional "upper hands" prove futile; the whispered promise of a girl's death holds more clout than the promised deafening report of a revolver. The story always finds new ways to surprise and alter not the course of the story but rather the path the characters take towards the end. Even while the final act devolves into more of a standard action sequence rather than maintain the delicate drama and character antagonism that shapes the bulk, Trapped nevertheless proves a satisfying ride down familiar territory reworked into a rather fresh and intense picture.

Director Luis Mandoki mostly sits back and allows his actors to operate, his camera used only to soak up the raw emotions and frantic ups-and-downs that shape the film. The picture focuses on three groups, three one-on-one dynamics each with their own flavor but all integral to the story. The primary conflict, and the film's most dramatically satisfying, comes from the Kevin Bacon-Charlize Theron pair. Theirs is the darkest, the most brutal, the one that defines the rest of the film and in which the film finds the bulk of its conniving, shifting advantages, and spitfire drama. On the other end of the spectrum is the far more serene but perhaps most fundamentally disturbing, the matching of Pruitt Taylor Vince and Dakota Fanning, the childlike adult versus the more adult-like child who don't so much engage in a battle of wits but seem more content to wait one another out, Fanning's character a little more likely to attempt something but still, together, they're the offset of the more basically brutal and ever-flowing kinetic relationship that grows between Karen and Joe. The Stuart Townsend-Courtney Love pairing is the film's most balanced, with equal parts heavy action and gentle drama. It's on this relationship, and on these actors, that the film must depend to bring all others full-circle. All three are very well realized and strongly acted; Trapped may tell a rather good story made out of spare parts, but it's the cast dynamics that really push it onto another level.

Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Trapped's high definition presentation isn't anything remotely special, but that doesn't make it remotely bad. In fact, it's a fairly healthy high definition transfer, not one that's endlessly attractive but instead one that handles most every element suitably well. The one drawback is a rather bland color palette. The image is dim to excess, with almost no brilliance to it. Even in the light of intense headlamps or a few daytime exteriors, the palette rarely finds much in the way of vibrancy. That said, the palette is at least consistent. Basic hues are revealed nicely enough, skin textures are fairly accurate, and black levels don't falter. Details are attractive. The image enjoys a good, basic cinematic feel. Light grain enhances quality skin and clothing textures. Other elements like the home's hardwood floors and marble countertops are also well defined. A few speckles pop up from time to time and light banding crosses shadowy faces, but otherwise it's a solid -- but unspectacular -- transfer all around.

Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Trapped features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that ranges from decent-to-good. Music is a bright spot. It's fairly crisp and well spaced across the front, yielding good clarity whether deeper notes or more airy ones. There's a light but critical and well implemented surround element to help the track along. Sound effects seem to vary in quality and presence. A brief parking garage scene in the final act offers a very authentic reverberation, but an overhead helicopter lacks much presence. A few heavy thuds enter the stage with authority, but crowd applause in an early scene falls flat. Dialogue is always center-focused and usually firm and presented at an appropriate volume, but there's also an occasional shallowness to it. There's otherwise little of note here; it's a basic Thriller soundtrack with all the usual elements but not many bells and whistles. It works well enough but Trapped's lossless soundtrack isn't one destined to end up playing through showroom floor speakers.

Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, this Blu-ray release of Trapped contains no supplemental content.

Trapped Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Trapped is no classic, but it's a highly entertaining and largely effective Thriller. It takes old pieces and spins them into a rather fresh and invigorating back-and-forth tale of suspense, fear, and always-imminent peril. The cast is excellent; the six primaries play well off of one another and particularly against their opposites in the film. The Bacon-Theron relationship is where the film finds most of its raw excitement, but it's in the other two where it finds its best purely human emotions. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Trapped enjoys decent video and audio. No extras are included. Recommended primarily on the strength of the film.