Trapped (2002)

I wanted to but couldn't!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

So even though I'm like analyzing Cillian murphy and josh hartnett right now, I can't help but too define and describe what an awesome job Kevin Bacon does in film. Like before this I remember Criminal law, and man, spooky, awesome. With Courtney Love in the film, i remember that all my expectations were turned in revulsion and, i was so impressed by these guys that I had to JUST love their acting! Now as far as Josh hartnett and Cillian Murphy, its obvious that the steps in identifying character relationships with the viewers and the affectivity involving these two versus SAY a more mainstream and current population of STARS...is bringing me hopelessness towards even creeping myself out any further within shocking docudramas and film going viral.

The movie is a standard kidnap movie, covered in plot holes.The acting - Dakata Fanning (Abby), Kevin Bacon, Charlie Therone and Pruitt Taylor Vince are great actors. You could see the emotion and felt deeply for the characters. Even Courtney Love shows some skill in this movie despite a terrible script and stupidity of the character. I was really disappointed with Stuart Townsends performance, I did not like his acting at all, I didn't feel any connection with his character.The plot - well, kidnappers that just seem to hang out with there victims, they don't use duct tape, rope or anything to detain them and then surprise they get attacked by the victims. First, Courtney Love falls asleep with the gun beside her, leading to the character Will being able to move around freely and plan his attack on Courtney Love. Then, you learn briefly why Courtney love and her team targeted Will and his family, when Will quickly defends himself by stating "he lied to you, so you wouldn't blame him". Courtney Loves character instantly believes him and then begins to side with Will.Keven Bacon also lets Charlie go to the bathroom and take her time to undress, while she searches for a weapon. It was just a bit ridiculous of a plot hole to allow her in the bathroom unsupervised. It is then when Charlie gets Bacon in a vulnerable position.The private plane was a bit of a joke. I mean, I know the main character Will is a doctor, but a private plane. Also The plot was just too weak to be decent. It was too much of a happy ending, everything goes right for the "victims" scenario. I wouldn't waste money in renting it.

Trapped is a taught little thriller. It combines a strong cast of characters with a well designed plot and an explosive ending. If movies were like food, this one would be a mouthwatering cheeseburger that tastes as good as it looks.This is a story about a trio of kidnappers and the fifth family they've targeted. The scheme is wonderfully smart and simple. The victims are always rich families with one young child. When the dad leaves homes for some reason, Joe (Kevin Bacon) and his subservient cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince) grab the kid. While Joe stays with the mom, Marvin takes the kid to a separate location. Joe's wife Cheryl (Courtney Love) then sidles up the dad and informs him of what's going on. Joe has the mom wire $250, 000 dollars to the dad, who then gives the money to Cheryl. Once that's done, Marvin releases the child and the kidnappers disappear. It all happens in the course of 24 hours with Joe phoning his partners every 30 minutes or the kid dies. The swiftness of the plan helps prevent the authorities from becoming involved and it eliminates the need for a traditional ransom exchange where most kidnappers get caught.The first four times they did it, it worked out perfectly for the kidnappers. The fifth time…not so much. The mom (Charlize Theron) is bit too smart and ingenious for Joe to handle. The dad (Stuart Townsend) is a little more bold and assertive than Cheryl can deal with. Their little girl (Dakota Fanning) has severe asthma, which complicates the whole scenario. Worst of all, this abduction isn't just business. Joe, Cheryl and Marvin have something personal against this family, something that causes them to break their own rules and put everything in jeopardy.Now, I suppose you could subtract a few points from Trapped for its use of childhood asthma as a plot device. That's become a well worn cliché for this sort of film. The ending of the movie, while pretty effective, is also quite over-the-top and not in tune with the rest of the story. The explanation for why the previous four families victimized by the kidnappers didn't call the police after it happened doesn't hold water. And there's one moment when a twist gets pulled out of the screenwriter's behind to get over a important plot hump. Those are only minor quibbles, though, in an otherwise well written movie.Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon carry the film with a couple of very entertaining performances. The mental and emotional struggle between Joe and the mom is both dramatic and believable. Bacon portrays Joe as this creepy paradox of professional detachment at war with his baser impulses. He's come up with a kidnapping plan that's supposed to ensure no one has to get hurt, yet makes a habit of forcing the mothers to have sex with him to keep their children safe. Theron's work as the mom is just as striking, letting us see her self-control battling with her overpowering concern for her child.And outside of that one exception, the plot twists in the story are also perfectly calibrated. There are just enough snags that develop in Joe's plan to keep you wondering how it's going to turn out, without having things spin implausibly out of control. It's always a challenge in this kind of tale to keep the problems that develop from being so obvious that the villain seems like an idiot for not anticipating them. Yet, if the bad guy is too smart, his mistakes and errors have to become so unlikely and improbable that it makes the whole thing feel contrived.Trapped is good piece of entertainment and well worth seeing.

Because I surely did not. For starters, the family, you have an Irish man with fairly dark hair, a blonde magazine model? woman, with an intellectual young blonde daughter. That at first to me seemed unrealistic, but later on the film it was just ridiculous. I craved more information on these characters, because they seemed interesting enough, but all I was given was a bunch of strangers thrown into a pot of boiling nonsense. Don't get me wrong though, these actors are terrific with the right role, this was just supposed to be a T.V movie with actors and actresses we had never heard of. It was a lazy, terror-less film about something that people make movies about, it seems every day. They could have had a twist or two, maybe even a little bit of suspense, but no. It was boring, I was watching this film thinking to myself what I would have done if I was in that situation. Overall, the only part I actually enjoyed was when the woman got let out of the boot of the car and just ran away, I had to giggle at that.