Click to read the article
Trapped (2002)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:2
Rotten:9
Average Rating:4/10
Consensus: With its plot about child kidnapping and endangerment, Trapped is an exploitative thriller, more queasy than suspenseful.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, language and sexual content
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Sep 20, 2002 Wide
Box Office: $6,916,869
Synopsis:
The perfect crime is, perhaps, the crime that is never reported.
Some criminals seize control of their environment so convincingly, and cover their tracks so effectively that they leave nothing...
The perfect crime is, perhaps, the crime that is never reported.
Some criminals seize control of their environment so convincingly, and cover their tracks so effectively that they leave nothing but terrified victims-- so shocked that they retreat into silence, grateful to have their lives back. These are the unfortunate victims of Joe and Cheryl Hickey (Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love), who along with Joe's cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince), have orchestrated and refined a foolproof plan to extort money from wealthy families. They've preyed upon helpless families with confidence, skill, and success.
But this time, they picked the wrong family - a family that chooses to fight back and take control of a terrifying ordeal that is spiraling towards an unthinkable outcome.
Will Jennings (Stuart Townsend), a young anesthesiologist, and his wife Karen (Charlize Theron), a rising textile designer, share their beautiful Portland, Oregon home with their daughter, six-year-old Abby (Dakota Fanning). When Will leaves for a medical conference in Seattle, Karen and Abby return home, and within minutes their comfortable lives are shattered.
When Abby is abducted by the Hickeys, the relentless 24-hour plan is set in motion that will test the limits of everything the Jennings' take for granted. Trapped in different cities, Will and Karen discover how far each will go to get their daughter back.
Three locations, three kidnappers, three hostages - one family and a chilling, breakneck 24 hours until it's all over. But as the tables are turned on the Hickeys and the 'perfect' crime unravels, so does a shocking history that changes everything. Based on the novel "24 Hours" aka "Trapped" by Greg Iles, the film is a harrowing thriller about a family that turns the table on their captors.
A Columbia Pictures presentation, Trapped is directed by Luis Mandoki (Message in a Bottle), who produces with Mimi Polk Gitlin (Thelma & Louise). The executive producers are Mark Canton, Hanno Huth, Neil Canton, Glen Ballard and Rick Hess. The screenplay is by Greg Iles. Carsten Lorenz, Nathan Kahane and Michael McDonnell co-produce. Music by John Ottman. Columbia Pictures will distribute in the United States and Canada, with Senator Entertainment handling the foreign distribution. Trapped will be released nationwide on September 20 and, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for violence, language and sexual content.
Starring: Stuart Townsend, Charlize Theron, Kevin Bacon, Courtney Love
Starring: Stuart Townsend, Charlize Theron, Kevin Bacon, Courtney Love, Dakota Fanning, Pruitt Taylor Vince
Director: Luis Mandoki
Director: Luis Mandoki
Screenwriter: Greg Iles, Don Roos
Producer: Luis Mandoki, Mimi Polk Gitlin
Composer: John Ottman
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Get This Movie
Reviews for Trapped
The movie is a negligible work of manipulation, an exploitation piece doing its usual worst to guilt-trip parents.
Not really bad so much as distasteful: We need kidnapping suspense dramas right now like we need doomsday thrillers.
True to its title, it traps audiences in a series of relentlessly nasty situations that we would pay a considerable ransom not to be looking at.
There is no pleasure in watching a child suffer. Just embarrassment and a vague sense of shame.
Feels like the faceless product of a Hollywood screenwriting computer program, one that provide everything but personality and a brain.
For a good chunk of its running time, Trapped is an effective and claustrophobic thriller.
Splashes its drama all over the screen, subjecting its audience and characters to action that feels not only manufactured, but also so false you can see the filmmakers' puppet strings.
A reasonably efficient mechanism, but it offers few surprises and finds its stars slumming in territory they should have avoided.
Latest News for Trapped
August 19, 2005:
In Other News...Eminem, Courtney Love, Jenny McCarthy and Mini-Me
Today's intelligence round-up brings stories of rehabilitation and heartbreak, as your favorite celeb-watchers break news of drug-addiction and divorce…beginning with rap... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 82% 82% | Paranormal Activity |
| 57% 57% | 9 |
| 44% 44% | Jennifer's Body |
| 58% 58% | A Perfect Getaway |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



