A troubled woman is held “Captive” with an escaped convict, in this subtle religious offering from Jerry Jameson. When murder convict Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo) escapes from custody, he sets off on a journey to make good with his girlfriend for their newborn son. When it doesn’t go well, he takes hostage recovering meth addict Ashley Smith (Kate Mara) in her own apartment. she turns for guidance to Rick Warren’s best selling inspirational book, “The Purpose Driven Life”. While reading aloud, Ashley and Brian each face crossroads where despair and death intersect hope. After coming out of “Captive” i can’t fully say whether it was among the religious films like “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas” or “Heaven Is For Real”, but i can say that it is done far better than any of those films, even if it peters out by film’s end. This is a movie based on performances, and it’s no surprise that Oyelowo makes the most of another offering. Some of the dialogue in the film is a little laughable, but David reads it with honest eyes and conviction that we believe his every threat. It was certainly weird to see him from the antagonist side of the coin, but the movie has enough problems that he can thrive in this kind of role. Mara goes through such a transformation in this movie, as opposed to other roles. As Ashley, she is abnormally skinny, drug-eyed, and an abandoning parent. It’s interesting to see a character who has just as many problems as her male counterpart, and Mara keeps up with Oyelowo every step of the way. So what is the problem with this film? It almost seems ashamed by it’s source material. The movie can’t quite grasp if it wants to be a film with a big religious influence or if it wants to be an edge of the seat thriller. The first act of the film certainly represents the latter of those options, but the second act comes to a screeching halt with endless dialogue that dances around, but never truly confronts the problems of Ashley. More importantly, it shoehorns in what little religious influence that it has. It feels so forced, and that’s a shame because this film looks and feels like more time was invested into it than normal films of this genre. Then, with the drop of a hat, she stands up and decides to stop taking drugs. One could say this is over the traumatizing events of a man breaking in and holding her hostage, but i don’t buy it. If she can’t change for her eight year old daughter to the point of losing custody of her, then i find it hard to believe she would care about anything. She changes because the script needs her to. I understand this film is based off of a true story, but it just doesn’t do a good job of filling in the gaps for us. By the end of the movie, we are supposed to believe that Brian and Ashley have a bit of a friendship, but an emotional breakthrough is never really made clear. I was curious to see where the film would go heading into the explosion it was building for. Unfortunately, that’s where the film really lost me. It builds this big confrontation between Nichols and the police, but it’s a big disappointment with nothing of note to make this ending memorable. “Captive” didn’t torture me, but it did tie me up for 92 minutes of emotional dishonesty. Even with solid performances, the film’s direction feels lost in translation. It will come and go from theaters in a couple weeks, and no one will ever remember it’s presence.

5/10