Title: Captives
Year: 2008
Director: Randall Chu
Starring: Leah Allers ... Naomi
Len Cordova ... Jim
Stephanie Denise Griffin ... Jane
Kyle Vogt ... Neil
Arianne Martin ... Polly
Fred Ochs ... Dr. Winters
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Shoes Off Productions LLC
Distributor: http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.createspace.com/
Running time: 89 minutes
Official Website: http://www.captivesmovie.com/

CAPTIVES is a psychological thriller that centers on the relationship between two married couples. Jim (Len Cordova) and Naomi (Leah Allers) are Los Angeles thrill-seekers, off to find the next adventure on a cross-country trip. Neil (Kyle Vogt) is a writer and conservative homebody who severely dominates the movements of his mousey wife Jane (Stephanie Denise Griffin). When the travelers car breaks down in front of the suburban couples house their paths cross and a series of events that careen downhill are set in motion.

Neil helps Jim get the car repaired while Naomi and Jane become friendly and make the guys dinner. Afterwards they discuss their lifestyles and values and we can see that Jane is fascinated by the thrill-seeking life, much to Neil’s’ chagrin. The talk turns to ultimate thrills and both couples agree that murder or kidnapping would be near the top.

After the travelers leave, Jane is pressured by a junkie ex-friend for money and starts to contemplate getting rid of her overbearing husband. She contacts Naomi. Jim and Naomi are excited about the idea of a mock kidnapping for the thrill of it; not knowing that Neil in not party to the plan. While Jane makes plans with Naomi, she also talks Neil into going on a short vacation to Los Angeles. Nervous and uncomfortable, Neil goes along with it to please his wife. While they are sightseeing in Hollywood, Jane disappears and Neil is contacted by her kidnappers. He is in the process of getting the ransom demand together when he is knocked out and kidnapped too.

They wake up tied to chairs in a garage. Naomi and Jim look over their kidnap victims and begin to toy with them. Suddenly, Neil breaks free and a struggle ensues. Jane is knocked down and suffers a fatal concussion while Jim regains control of Neil. In a panic, the kidnappers hang Neil and make it look like a murder suicide.

Later on a Caribbean white sand beach, a subdued and guilt ridden Jim and Naomi contemplate life with the knowledge of two murders on their conscience. Fade to black.

Writing a creative and modern retelling of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951), Randall Chu takes a big chance in this, his freshman feature outing as director/writer. He combines self reflexive film techniques that harkin back to the hay days of avante garde cinema with modern transparent story telling, high key lighting and overly clear 24p Mini-DV stock to create a modern hodge-podge of the classic film noir of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It is courageous but falls short of the mark.

There are many problems with the film. Continuity errors (we see Naomi pull off and cut to Neil driving), a wordy script, scenes that are tolong and music that doesn’t set the right mood. All of these can be forgiven. However, the one overriding issue is the acting which may or may not be the fault of Mr. Chu and his cinematographer (Travis MacRitchie).

None of the four principal characters convey emotions in their face and the film is not edited to compensate for it. There is a lack of “cut to close up” that would give the audience a chance to get inside the characters mind. Wordy dialog tells us what we should have known with just a look. Frequently the characters feel like they are acting and not reacting to their respective spouse. Some scenes, like the one in the airport parking lot, are almost painful to watch. There is also no light comedic moment to break the tension, or lack of tension, in the plot. The characters don’t get a chance to exhibit an alternate side to their personalities. By the end we don’t really know them any better then we did in the beginning. We don’t feel much for their plight one way of the other. Meh.

CAPTIVES was made on a VERY small budget and as I wrote early on, is a courageous effort. But frequently less is more and this is one of those times. Mr. Chu obviously has a lot of film knowledge and perhaps talent. If a story as dark and cerebral as CAPTIVES was his passion, he might have been better off adapting Rope (1948) or Lifeboat (1944) first. I wish him, his cast and crew every success.