The 5 Overlooked Roles of Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman in Denis Villanueve’s Prisoners
Hugh Jackman nailing dramatic roles effortlessly is not a foreign concept to us but it was here where he gave a powerhouse performance as a father who put matters into his own hands as he searches for his missing daughter. Okay sure, this is pretty much the premise of Neeson’s Taken but Villanueve’s Prisoners wasn’t portrayed as this badass action movie. Prisoners focuses on a more slow-burn personal story centered on human beings AKA people who don’t have a “particular set of skills”. The movie sets us up to be on Hugh Jackman’s side but then the movie makes a 180 and makes him do morally questionable things to get to the truth. Which lets us the audience wonder if what he’s doing is really right? What makes a protagonist a “good guy”? Jackman adds so much moral complexities to the character through his affection, grief, rage, and desperation. The movie had a lot of great performances across the board especially from Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano but this really was Hugh’s show. It was a shame Hugh Jackman wasn’t given enough recognition for this role during that year’s awards season.
GP Manalo
