Some films get a "free pass" i.e. an IMDb rating of 7 or higher (which makes the film a must-watch) because of their subject matter. Any film which deals with difficult subject matter such as child abduction, molestation etc. will automatically pull at the heart strings so you can't really go wrong with them in terms of audience investment in the characters and the story.
Yes, this film is worth watching because you will of course be emotionally impacted (unless you have no feelings) but I've rated the film a 6 based on the merits of the production and writing etc. The film definitely has Hollywood's production quality and the main actors are charismatic if a little hollow.
My main gripe(s) with this film are: movie realism. It is an accepted fact that police officers ALWAYS go off the deep end and break ALL the rules to solve crimes and hell, normal people would too! If I were confronting a paedophile and trying to get information, they'd at least lose a few fingers before I would give up - what the hell is this guy doing? There are so many scenes where you're expecting the lead guy to do something above and beyond to get what he needs but he doesn't and it's so frustrating! and unbelievable! Not just in movie land but in the real world too! Frankly, this guy's police work and deduction skills are appalling (not the actor's fault of course). There was one particular word which connected things but it made no sense that ALL the kids would be using the same word... why?! Did the guy have this word tattooed on his forehead or something??
Too many times I had to go 'urgh, as if' at the screen and the ending was infuriating. ¡It's not exactly Fort Knox though is it!
So it's worth watching just because of the subject matter... except it's not is it? Because the subject matter is revolting.
Truth be told, up until things started to get ridiculous, I would have recommended watching this film but now that I've seen the whole thing, I'm not going to. I still give it a 6 for the production quality and the acting and the (unfortunately) emotional storyline but take the latter out and it's just a glossy Hollywood type film with a lot of flaws in the story telling.
6/10
