Trapped (2002 film)

Trapped is a 2002 American-German crime thriller film directed by Luis Mandoki and starring Charlize Theron, Courtney Love, Stuart Townsend, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Fanning and Pruitt Taylor Vince. Based on Greg Iles' bestselling novel 24 Hours, it was released under the banner 'Propaganda Films Production' on September 20, 2002.

Plot
Joe Hickey (Kevin Bacon), his wife Cheryl (Courtney Love) and his cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince) have developed a money-making scheme – they kidnap the child of rich parents, hold the child for 24 hours and demand ransom money from the father. They each have a specific role in the operation – Marvin kidnaps the child, Joe stays in the victims' house to control the mother, and Cheryl deals with the father.

Dr. Will Jennings (Stuart Townsend) is a research physician who has just had his big career break by patenting a new anesthetic drug. His wife, Karen Jennings (Charlize Theron), who was previously a nurse, is a stay-at-home mother to their daughter Abigail, aka Abby (Dakota Fanning). Joe targets Abigail as the next kidnapping victim and the trio begin to enact their usual plan.

Abby is kidnapped by Joe and Marvin and they soon discover that she has asthma and is dependent on an inhaler pump. Marvin takes Abby to his cabin and Joe holds Karen hostage. Cheryl keeps Will at gunpoint and informs him of his daughter's kidnapping. It is subsequently revealed that Cheryl and Joe kidnapped Abby because they believe that Will is responsible for the recent death of their daughter Katie: Katie had a tumor and died while being operated on by Will. Will reveals that Katie died because of unforeseen bleeding accidentally caused by the head surgeon during the operation; the surgeon then lied to Joe and Cheryl, convincing them that Katie's death was as a result of negligence by Will in Katie's recovery to avoid scrutiny by them. It is revealed that Joe's real plan is not to let Abby go home after the ransom is paid, but rather, to keep her and raise her as his own daughter.

Abby begins to have an asthma attack at the cabin, which makes Marvin panic. Joe allows Karen to see Abby in order to administer medication to her. While being separated from Abby again, Karen tries to fight Joe but he subdues her and then rapes her. She manages to injure him with a concealed scalpel and heads to her bathroom where she receives a phone call from Abby. Abby attempts to escape from Marvin's cabin but is consequently recaptured by him. Marvin has become fond of Abby, and begins to devise a plan with her about escaping. Joe forces Karen to stitch up his wound.

Cheryl loses her nerve and Will takes advantage of this, convincing her to help him get Abby back. Together, they go to the bank to get the ransom money while being monitored by the police. Joe and Cheryl have a heated argument on the phone, and Will realizes that he must act quickly. He boards a seaplane, looking for Abby. Meanwhile, Joe and Karen are driving together in a car on the freeway, and Marvin and Abby are travelling in an SUV. Karen attacks Joe, forcing them off the freeway. Will spots Abby, and lands the seaplane on the freeway. Marvin loses control of the SUV, forcing him off the freeway as well and orders Abby to escape to find her parents, but she is captured by Cheryl.

With help from a friend, Will is able to trace the cell phone calls and tries to locate Abby. Will's friend alerts the FBI, despite being asked not to, and they soon arrive on the scene to search for Abby. Joe, pretending to be an FBI agent, shoots Will in the leg, but stops when Will tells him that Katie's death was not his fault. Before Joe, Cheryl and Marvin can escape, Abby has another asthma attack while in their custody. Joe and Will engage in a fight, but Karen shoots Joe twice, killing him. Will and Karen are reunited with Abby and quickly medicate her before her symptoms worsen. Marvin slowly walks away from them, and Cheryl is arrested by the FBI.

Cast

 * Charlize Theron – Karen Jennings
 * Courtney Love – Cheryl Hickey
 * Stuart Townsend – Dr. Will Jennings
 * Kevin Bacon – Joe Hickey
 * Dakota Fanning – Abby Jennings
 * Pruitt Taylor Vince – Marvin
 * Colleen Camp – Joan Evans
 * Steve Rankin – Hank Ferris
 * Garry Chalk – Agent Chalmers
 * Jodie Markell – Mary McDill
 * Matt Koby – Peter McDill
 * Gerry Becker – Dr. Stein
 * Andrew Airlie – Holden
 * Randi Lynne – Hotel Operator
 * J. B. Bivens – Gray Davidson
 * John Scott – SWAT leader
 * Gregory Bennett – Heins
 * Jim Filippone – Helicopter pilot
 * Brent Woolsey – stunt coordinator/ violent man

Reception
On the film-critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Trapped earned 18% positive reviews based on 57 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "With its plot about child kidnapping and endangerment, Trapped is an exploitative thriller, more queasy than suspenseful." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly called the film "a negligible work of manipulation, an exploitation piece doing its usual worst to guilt-trip parents." She felt "The most frightening sight, though, is that of Theron and Bacon, good actors trapped in the muck of making a living." Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Excellent abduction films such as Breakdown and the original The Vanishing maintain a sense of danger and claustrophobia by keeping the conflicts mostly internal, turning up the temperature under a fluctuating tone of emotional duress. Trapped splashes its drama all over the screen, subjecting its audience and characters to action that feels not only manufactured, but also so false you can see the filmmakers' puppet strings." One of the few critics who gave a favorable review was Megan Turner of the New York Post who described the film as "a tightly drawn, propulsive thriller with some pleasingly unexpected kinks in the tale and a couple of believable performances from Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon in the leads."