The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is the true story of "courage" of drug addict Ashley Smith (Kate Mara) whose home was invaded by Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo) a rather polite cop killer who had escaped from Fulton Co. jail. Ashley reads to him a couple of lines from "A Purpose Driven Life" and he allows her to leave and then gives himself up to the cops. That is pretty much it. Ashley had ample opportunity to escape at numerous other occasions and chose not to do so, as many people speculated the two people had known each other, i.e. drug dealings previously. In this version of the story they are complete strangers. The film gets preachy during the epilogue, but wasn't too bad during the film. Unfortunately this was basically a two man play with boring characters and dialogue.The film is liked by those who enjoy faith based films.Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

Captive is based on the true story of a junkie trying to get her daughter back who is taken hostage by a killer in her home. It's a moderately entertaining story which is helped greatly by good performances by the leads Kate Mara and David Oyelowo. The story does fall flat in places and there is a surprising lack of tension garnered from the situation. However the actors do there best with the material and this just about elevates the film above average in my opinion. Saying that there are enough good scenes to keep you watching.It's nothing to get excited about but it's a decent enough thriller to pass the time especially if you have never heard of the story.

On reading the synopsis I wasn't sure how they were going to pull off a movie about a captive converting a convict. Based on a true story it seems they pulled it off by mostly skimming it and delivering a fairly straight criminal/hostage movie.To me it is sad that this is a true story because once it was done it went to Oprah and the facts, and I didn't see the black male convict being interviewed and celebrated. In fact the purpose driven life he gained was to in fact not see his son until he becomes 18 and chooses to do so. If it were a fiction I would have liked to see the captive fighting to make sure that man saw his son, or at least shown that the mother of his son then made contact and facilitated communication and a relationship between father and son.Without this information the story is a sad one, which would be fine, but it is framed as good for everyone despite the obvious. He even gives her her phone, a clear sign of relenting himself to the authorities, yet he doesn't give himself up. Was this confused storytelling or did he intend to give up but got scared again? We don't know because it's not even hinted at.I love the idea of this movie but what it delivers is trash mixed with troubling truths.

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 performingAnd 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