Adapting his novel 24 Hours, first-time screenwriter Greg Iles has neglected to include in his plotting a sense of impending doom, a lack of purpose that isn't helped by the arid filmmaking style of director Luis Mandoki.
Trapped (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:10
Rotten:46
Average Rating:4.1/10
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
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Reviews for Trapped
The movie is a negligible work of manipulation, an exploitation piece doing its usual worst to guilt-trip parents.
This one is probably best seen as a rental. From the looks of things, it shouldn't take that long to make it to the video store, either.
A relatively effective little potboiler until its absurd, contrived, overblown, and entirely implausible finale.
It's hard to believe these jokers are supposed to have pulled off four similar kidnappings before.
“Trapped” is one of the most hilarious movies that’s hit the big screen this year. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to be a dramatic thriller.
Though there are many tense scenes in Trapped, they prove more distressing than suspenseful.
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.
Plays better than your standard kidnapping thriller, thanks to Luis Mandoki's taut direction and writer Greg Iles' compelling twists and turns.
Entirely suspenseful, extremely well-paced and ultimately... dare I say, entertaining!
For a good chunk of its running time, Trapped is an effective and claustrophobic thriller.
Charlize CHASES Kevin with a GUN. Courtney CHASES Stuart with a CELL PHONE. The sound of GUNFIRE and cell phones RINGING.
There’s one thing that you can say about the generic suspense thriller Trapped in that the title aptly captures the claustrophobic feeling one will get in viewing this uneventful kidnapping yarn.
Latest News for Trapped
August 19, 2005:
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