Captive

Just saw this - wow! David Oyelowo and Kate Mara deliver powerful and nuanced performances that stayed with me long after the movie had ended. We are taken inside a terrifying situation, based on a true story - a woman, Ashley Smith, a recovering meth addict, is taken hostage in her own home by Brian Nichols, who is on the run, having killed several people already. What will he do to her? Will she get away? But there is so much more to it. Somehow I found myself caring also about this killer. Weirdly, in this midst of this tense situation, they develop a human connection that drew me in. There are surprising odd details - she makes him pancakes, he helps by putting up a mirror. Two broken lives, a terrible situation, yet somehow this is a hopeful film. Absolutely compelling.

Great performances by David Oyelowo and Kate Mara. The two created good chemistry on the screen.

David Oyelow is a fine actor. I was really drawn in at watching him play Nicols. It was very intriguing watching him showcase the many levels of the character his is performing

And Kate Mara did a fantastic job as a supporting actor. I like how she handle the material. Seemed more interesting in going for the realism of the situation without being over dramatic.

But my personal favorite performance in captive goes to Micheal k Williams, however. It's not the first time he played a man on the right side of the law, but Omar from the Wire gave his most believable performance as the head cop Jon Chestnut hunting down Brian Nichols.

It was a compelling story about a woman who literately seemed scared straight into cleaning herself up from an addiction while being captured by Brian Nicols for 7 hours.

It's all about watching two good actors connect with each other on the big screen and it makes for a wonderful experience

It started all nice and I really thought it was going to be action and pursuits all the time but it quickly came down to a point I was just watching the movie with not much interest. When they finally started to speak about God and all that kind of crap it lost my attention completely and I just hoped the movie would end faster. Not that the actors were bad or so. They all did their job like they should but the story is just not good enough to be memorable even if it is based on a true story. I just wished it was not based on a true story and that they would have left the God thing out of the movie and maybe then it would have been something better and different. Now the end was just not good enough, certainly not when you saw the first steps of the criminal in the beginning. Good to watch once and then forget about it.

I saw this film without knowing anything about Brian Nichols and his story and I enjoyed it. I then saw the low ratings and mixed reviews and i wondered why. I'd classify it as drama/thriller: the tension is present throughout the movie but the main feature is the development of the two leading characters. David Oyelowo's acting is solid but it's above all Kate Mara's performance that strikes the viewer with her portrait of a troubled woman trying to make sense of her life. The interaction between the two, ranging from violent to almost tender, is another leitmotif. I guess knowing the ending takes away a lot of the suspense making it predictable hence my summary line. All cast is up to the task and delivers nuanced work.

I remember see this on the news as it unfolded. It was a shocking and an incredible story. I think many will find it controversial. This film was very good and it was fascinating to see how she got through to the killer.

Ashley, the main character and hostage, was able to reach a core of decency (I was surprised he even had it) inside a man who had cold-heartedly murdered 4 other people. At the same time, Ashley was able to not give up hope and grow spiritually and strengthen her resolve to trust God. I can't imagine how she felt going this through this with her child.