Ego Film Arts, The Film Farm,
Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson
Cass (Alexia Fast) was 9 years old when she was riding home with her Dad Matthew (Ryan Reynolds). Matthew stopped at a little cafe to pick up a pie for a party and when he returned to the car, Cassandra was gone. She was captured by an evil ring of men who kidnapped children and held them captive while putting them on webcam so that members could watch the kids around the clock. Cassandra was held for 8 years. Now that she is grown, the clients have lost interest in her, but the captors use her to lure other girls to be captured. But though her parents have never lost hope, the police believe that somehow Matthew is behind her disappearance. The captors are playing a game however, leaving little clues that Cassandra is still alive. Since so much time has passed, and with no one to believe him anyway, it’s up to Matthew to sort out the truth on his own.
This is a suspenseful little film, and the frustration that Matthew feels is very deftly portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. He does a wonderful job in this film. Another standout is Rosario Dawson who plays a missing person’s detective who has a special bind to the missing children. The story is very smartly written, and though we also can tell that Ryan’s character is telling the truth, in true Hitchcock style (were they intentionally paying homage to him), every step of the way makes Matthew look guilty. This is a stolen child story, but with all the modern technology, it shows how the bad guys have a leg up on the police, and how frustrating it is trying to solve these cases. This was filmed in Canada and takes place in Niagara, so there are some harsh winter scenes. Ontario gets a lot of snow from the lakes, and winters are long and cold. This suits the film very well too, as most of it takes place in the winter. I felt this was a very good little mystery/suspense picture, and I enjoyed it very much. I can recommend this if you like a good thriller from time to time. Not a major motion picture, but well worth watching. Look for it.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
