Trapped
Review by Clint Morris
 A
crossbreed jumble of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle,
Death and the Maiden and immeasurable other kidnapping
yarns, Luis Mandoki’s Trapped combines aforesaid
tried and tested genre elements with high-scale adventure,
power-packed drama and a ripping finale to a surprisingly
effective degree.
For a film that died a very quick death at the U.S Box Office,
Trapped may come as a surprise.
It’s not the best film anything of the chills and spills
variety has seen, but considering no one went and saw it upon
it’s initial theatrical run, it’s quite a ride.
It does steer off course sometimes, sure, but for the most
part it soars down a pretty exhilarating stretch of road.
The reason for the lack of interest in the film is probably
due to the fact there was little-to-no advertising out there
for it.
The reason? It echoed a little too closely to events actually
taking place at the time. Heightening the effectiveness of
the film is a string of real-life child abductions, including
the much-publicized conviction of David Westerfield in the
kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Danielle van Dam in
a San Diego suburb.
Fearing the worst, Columbia has backed off all promotional
efforts for the film (hence no website). In its few ads for
the thriller, the studio has disinfected the TV trailers to
tone down the kidnapping theme -- though part of what makes
Trapped so startling is that it hews so close to real-life
events.
Based on the book by Greg Iles, Trapped stars Kevin
Bacon as Joe, hard-hearted leader of a kidnapping trio, whose
latest snatch, little Abby Jennings (Dakota Fanning) isn’t
handled lying down by her parents, Will (Stuart Townsend)
and Karen (Charlize Theron).
While colleague Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince) smuggles young
Abby to a secret locale, Joe stays on in the house, taunting
mother Karen. Seems he’s going be in her face for 24
hours – the time at which he says she’ll get her
daughter back.
Meantime, at his medical convention, Will, an affluent medical
practitioner, is pushed into a corner by Joe’s accomplice
and wife, Cheryl (Courtney Love) – determined to solidify
Daddy from doing anything stupid.
Possibly the best film the director has done to date, Trapped,
while a mixed bag, is also quite a captivating blast of energy.
The scenes shared between Theron and Bacon are especially
effective, and the finale – where Doctor Will soars his
light-engine plane on a packed highway – is quite a kicker.
It could have done with fleshing out the characters a little
more and sticking to a consistent stratagem, but for the most
part, Trapped will lock you in.
3 out of 5
Trapped
Australian release: Thursday February 20
Cast: Charlize Theron, Kevin Bacon, Courtney Love, Stuart
Townsend, Pruitt-Taylor Vince.
Director: Luis Mandoki.
Website: N/A
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