Review
– by Lynn Cinnamon
“Trapped” (2002) was a movie released at the wrong time. The stars were banned from promoting the film, no advertising was done, and reviewers weren’t allowed a sneak-peak. The reason wasn’t that the movie was an unwatchable piece of garbage (as is usually the case under these circumstances), but that it was set for release after a veritable “summer kidnapping panic.” For those of you, like myself who forgot about the Summer Kidnapping Panic, this was the summer that Elizabeth Smart was abducted, along quite a few other little girls.
“Trapped” presents a successful kidnapping team who have created a seemingly foolproof “system”. They’ve already kidnapped and safely returned four children in return for $250,000 a pop, and diving head-first into their third. In fact, the 5th abduction happens so fast we don’t really get any time to care about the family involved which consists of Will Jennings (Stuart Townsend), Karen Jennings (Charlize Theron), and six-year-old Abby (Dakota Fanning).
Will Jennings is an extremely successful doctor who has developed a wonder drug also pilots his own plan. He flies his plane off the dock to receive a very distinguished award leaving his wife Karen, an up-and-coming fabric designer, and precious daughter Abby behind. It isn’t long after Will’s departure that Abby is snatched away by the childlike Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and the dastardly Joe Hickey (Kevin Bacon) steps in to mind Karen. Meanwhile, at the conference Cheryl (Courtney Love) has Will under her gun after an unsuccessful sexual proposition. Now that all family members have their minders, the trio call each other on cell phones every 30 minutes if everything is cool to make sure the little girl doesn’t die.
Kevin Bacon and Charlize Theron are stunning to watch in this empty yet watchable kidnapping caper. Kevin truly shines in his performance of the cunning, gloating, grinning manipulator, while Charlize rage radiates like a true heat instead of a half-mustered angry pout that many actresses would use in such a role. Dakota Fanning also does a fantastic job as an earnest, wise, and fragile little girl. Her emotions run hot and strong when called for, but she also settles into her situation with a kind of noble stoicism.
Courtney Love was definitely the lessor actor of the ensemble and staggers through her performance as Cheryl as just a coherent version of her self Her character is supposed to sexy and tough, but she just comes across like a shaky and confused overgrown little girl who can’t be taken too seriously. Charlize’s character Karen, however, can be taken seriously. So seriously that she almost castrates Kevin’s character Joe at some point.
Overall, the flick is well-made and fun to watch. The acting is often quite good, and the story clips along at a neat pace with enough suspenseful moments to keep the audience intrigued. The major problem comes at the end with such a load of ridiculousness that it seems as if Greg Iles (who adapted the screenplay from his novel) simply gave up on what was actually a half-decent story.
