It seems like there have been a lot of Christian movies coming out lately. Just within the last three weeks two Christian movies called War Room and 90 Minutes in Heaven came out. The past few weeks have been so dry of decent movies that War Room even gained the number one box office position for the Labor Day weekend. It’s almost as though Hollywood has just now figured out that there are a lot of Christians in middle America who like to go see Christian themed movies at the theater. I’m usually not too impressed with these movies especially if they involve someone like Kirk Cameron who seems to be blind by his own faith. I didn’t think any of these Christian themed movies would rope me in to the theater but Captive has some very talented stars in it in Kate Mara and David Oyelowo so I decided to give it a chance.
The movie which is also based on a true story stars Kate Mara as a single mother named Ashley Smith who is a troubled meth addict and has had her daughter Paige taken away from her due to her being an unfit mother. She is trying to get clean and get on the straight and narrow, but just can’t stop using meth. She is struggling with her addiction one night when all of a sudden a man named Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo) takes her hostage at gunpoint and holds her hostage in her own apartment. Nichols has already killed four people earlier in the day while escaping prison so Ashley has no idea what will happen to her or if she will ever see her daughter again.
After seeing the trailer for this I was kind of interested in it although it looked like a cross between a Christian themed movie and a Lifetime movie. I was seeing it mostly because of the two starring actors and I was not wrong in doing so because they both deliver. Mara is coming off of a horrible reaction and poor box office performing Fantastic Four where she got quite a bit a criticism for her acting. Here she really redeems herself and is able to pull off a performance with a character that has depth. Oyelowo, who is coming off a star making performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in last year’s Selma, also delivers with a very polarizing character. His whole performance was designed to make you see the human inside of a killer and I think he really pulls that off well. Michael K. Williams is also in the movie as the Detective John Chestnut hunting down Brian Nichols. He gives an alright performance although I’ve always felt that Michael K. Williams has never had the chance to reach his full potential and he doesn’t even come close here.
I went into this movie hoping it wouldn’t be too preachy and fortunately it wasn’t. The Christian theme in the movie is introduced when a drug addiction support group leader gives Ashley the book Purpose Driven Life. If you are not familiar with this book it is basically a self-help book written for Christians trying to get their life back on track. The book plays a bit of a role in the movie, but I’m glad to report that it isn’t shoved down our throat. I’m okay with Christian themes being in a movie, but I can’t stand it when a movie gets too preachy and I feel that this movie handled it’s Christian themes in a very subtle way that made sense.
I honestly can’t say this movie was great, but I think it accomplishes what it set out to do overall. The story is based on a true story so there is only so many ways they can Hollywood it up. I think they kept it pretty accurate for the most part which is good, because I hate it when real stories are messed with to the point in a movie where they create revisionist history. The two main leads are the best parts of the movie and although I bought their characters I never really felt too much tension. It would have been nice to be able to sit on the edge of my seat, but the filmmakers decided to take it another direction and I can’t exactly fault them for that because I thought Captive turned out to be a decent little movie. I don’t think it will or should win any Oscars, but I do feel that the leading performances by Mara and Oyelowo are at least worth checking out.
Dave’s Rating- ★★★(3) out of ★★★★★(5)
