Based on a miraculous story about the power of faith, Captive is
an "amazing, inspiring" drama about the spiritual collision of two lost
souls, Brian Nichols (Golden Globe Nominee David Oyelowo), on the run
from police and desperate to make contact
with his newborn son, takes recently widowed mother Ashley Smith (Kate
Mara) hostage in her own apartment. Fearing for her life and
desperately hoping to see her daughter again, she turns to Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life for guidance. Ashley
and her captor face a crossroads where they discover hope and light in
the midst of despair in the moving film. (back of DVD)
My Review: Captive is based on a true event that I remember following on television, plus I read the book both when it was originally published and again a few months ago. That is part of the problem for me. On one hand, there were very strong performances, especially by the 2 leads, David Oyelowo and Kate Mara. They were both believable in their roles and kept my attention.
However, the story-telling was a bit shallow and weak. I understand that there is a need to get into the back story and condense 7 hours into a 96 minute film, but too much time was spent on fictionalized sections that I felt took away from the actual events. And it was the fictionalized (or altered) scenes that would cause my eyes to roll a bit. This is a powerful, captivating, story that stands up based on its own merit. There also seemed as though there was a reluctance to incorporate much of the faith aspect, including The Purpose Driven Life, perhaps to entice a larger audience, but the growing faith of Ashley has always been a key part of the story and had to be shown. Don't get me wrong; it was only part of the story and did not need to be over-exaggerated either. There was something in the book that always resonated with me which was used in another part of the film, but was trivialized when moved.
So, because of the performances, I would give it a high score. The film story puts it down to an average rating, but I am going to take into consideration that I am biased in favor of the actual events and tend to be a stickler about staying with facts as much as possible. To be fair, I have loved other movies that I later found out could barely claim "based on a true story" and the Captive screenwriters honestly did not stray that far in this movie. So, I will give it 4 stars.
However, the story-telling was a bit shallow and weak. I understand that there is a need to get into the back story and condense 7 hours into a 96 minute film, but too much time was spent on fictionalized sections that I felt took away from the actual events. And it was the fictionalized (or altered) scenes that would cause my eyes to roll a bit. This is a powerful, captivating, story that stands up based on its own merit. There also seemed as though there was a reluctance to incorporate much of the faith aspect, including The Purpose Driven Life, perhaps to entice a larger audience, but the growing faith of Ashley has always been a key part of the story and had to be shown. Don't get me wrong; it was only part of the story and did not need to be over-exaggerated either. There was something in the book that always resonated with me which was used in another part of the film, but was trivialized when moved.
So, because of the performances, I would give it a high score. The film story puts it down to an average rating, but I am going to take into consideration that I am biased in favor of the actual events and tend to be a stickler about staying with facts as much as possible. To be fair, I have loved other movies that I later found out could barely claim "based on a true story" and the Captive screenwriters honestly did not stray that far in this movie. So, I will give it 4 stars.
DVD Release Date: January 5, 2016
Runtime: 96 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (for mature thematic elements involving violence and substance abuse)
There are over 30 minutes of bonus content on this DVD including Journey Through Darkness: Filming Captive and Faith and The Purpose Driven Life. Also included with this DVD is a Digital HD copy that can be instantly streamed and downloaded.
GIVEAWAY!! Thank you to Propeller and FlyBy for providing a copy of this DVD to me at no charge for review purposes. All I had to do is give my honest opinion!! And, even better, they have another copy to send to one of my readers. Just leave a comment (or contact me if there is an issue with posting. Remember that I do need time to approve all comments) and a winner will be randomly selected.
Deadline to enter is January 29, 2016 at 2pm CT.
Deadline to enter is January 29, 2016 at 2pm CT.
1 comment:
This movie looks really good. I would love to see it.
Becky Mc.
Post a Comment