As so often happens in the American
cinema, the new movie Trapped, no
doubt purely accidentally, strikes a chord that chimes with current events and
contemporary media hysteria. In a time when so-called journalists, especially
on the 24-hour news channels, positively drool, in their usual manner, over
sensational reports of the disappearance, abduction, sexual assault, and murder
of children, this motion picture deals with a group of professional kidnappers,
who have pulled four profitable jobs in the past. Whatever its popularity in
some European countries, serial kidnapping as a criminal activity simply
doesn’t occur in the United States, which suggests that both the crime and the
film must be unique.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Before
the credits roll, the screen shows grainy, jumpy, washed-out, extreme close-up
shots of a barely identifiable couple in a car: a man taunting a woman, who
pleads for the life of her son. The man, as it turns out, is Joe Hickey (Kevin
Bacon), an especially clever and sadistic kidnapper, who has perfected what
seems to be a foolproof method of snatching a child, collecting a sizable ransom,
and returning the child without the authorities ever discovering that a crime
was committed. Carefully planned, meticulously organized, and tightly
scheduled, the schemes work so well that Hickey and his associates — his wife
Cheryl (Courtney Love) and cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vance) — full of
confidence and tempered by experience, are about to embark on their fifth job.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย After the
credits, the film, in effect, opens again, cutting to a panorama of a gorgeous
lake in the forests near Portland, Oregon. In contrast to the crowded,
uncomfortable interior of the car, as the camera pulls back, color seeps into
the frame, allowing a full sense of the beauty and tranquility of the scene.
That striking cinematic difference emphasizes the contrast between the Hickeys
and another family: Will and Karen Jennings (Stuart Townsend and Charlize
Theron) and their sweet little daughter, Abby (Dakota Fanning).
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Will and
Karen conspicuously enjoy the fruits of his success as a well-known and
respected anesthesiologist. Will’s achievements are best symbolized by the
airplane he pilots from his dock on the lake to a medical conference in
Seattle. With that sort of affluence and the family’s apparent closeness, we
all know disaster lurks somewhere out of sight of the camera.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Soon
after Will flies off, Joe and Marvin break into the Jennings’ home. Marvin
takes Abby to a cabin on another lake, and Joe stays with Karen to make his
demands and, more importantly, control the whole situation. He induces her
cooperation by telling her that she holds the power over her daughter’s life
— if Marvin doesn’t receive a cell phone call from Joe every thirty minutes,
he will kill Abby. Having established the rules, he tells her how she and her
husband can transfer $250,000 to Seattle, where Cheryl Hickey, who’s holding a
gun on Will, can pick it up in the morning. The whole family is, indeed,
trapped.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Not
surprisingly, a sexual element complicates the neat, simple operation — Joe
customarily exacts sex from the mothers whose children he abducts (he explains
that he chooses them not only for their money and their isolation, but for
their looks). Cheryl, apparently, does the same with the fathers, now and then.
The script presumably employs this factor to heighten the tension in what could
otherwise become a static and repetitive situation, and to compound the cruelty
of Joe’s game of cat and mouse.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
writing and direction extract a good deal of suspense, fright, and shock from
an essentially predictable plot. Within the constricted set of the Jennings’
home, the director cuts rapidly from actor to actor, constantly changing
angles, alternating a smooth flow of vision with hand-held jerkiness and abrupt
shifts in point of view, even changing the perspective and depth of focus. He
also intercuts scenes of the other settings — the cabin where Marvin is
holding Abby and the hotel room where Cheryl has imprisoned Will — to prevent
the film from settling into one ultimately dull interior.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Trapped works for most of its length —
that is, until a final, excessive, and quite incredible climactic chase —
thanks to the skill of the actors and the authenticity of the dialogue. The
slim, lithe, lovely Charlize Theron handles her part — the stereotypical
damsel in distress — relatively well, juggling desperation, rage, and
sexiness with a modicum of skill. Good old Courtney Love, who gives good slut,
adds a touch of pathos to her now familiar portrayal of the soiled dove.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย As
the villain, however, Kevin Bacon really carries the film, which suggests a
future for an actor who has become a party game. Looking younger than his
years, he displays an offhand, insinuating manner; a sneering condescension;
and an obvious delight in the pain he inflicts, confirming a bent for the
sinister Bacon’s demonstrated on and off in past films. If he continues in the
vein of Trapped, he may attain the
same effect as Bruce Dern’s deceptively soft-voiced nastiness, Kiefer
Sutherland’s sniveling whine, or William Forsythe’s demented squint.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย A
film that may have begun life as a vehicle for Charlize Theron may well revive
Bacon’s career, making Trapped not a
trap, but a springboard.
Trapped, starring
Kevin Bacon, Charlize Theron, Courtney Love, Pruitt Taylor Vance, Stuart
Townsend, Dakota Fanning, Steve Rankin, Gary Chalk, Jodie Markell, Matt Koby,
Andrew Airlie; based upon the novel 24
Hours, by Greg Iles; screenplay by Greg Iles; directed by Luis Mandoki.
Cinemark Tinseltown; Hoyts Greece Ridge; Loews Webster; Regal Culver Ridge;
Regal Eastview; Regal Henrietta.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2002.
