Variety: True crime and Christian filmmaking collide with more subtlety than either genre is typically known for in “Captive.” Sturdy performances from stars David Oyelowo, as a killer on the run, and Kate Mara, as his meth-addict hostage discovering a sense of purpose in her life, help to temper any temptations toward hysteria or preachiness and elevate what otherwise would have been standard movie-of-the-week fare 20 years ago. And yet by choosing not to force-feed any explicitly religious messaging, veteran TV helmer Jerry Jameson’s intimate thriller may sacrifice some commercial appeal with finicky faith-based auds.
AVClub: There’s no doubt that the inspirational thriller Captive is based on a true story, because, as they say, you can’t make this stuff up. As Ashley Smith (Kate Mara) recounts the lows of her crystal-meth addiction at Narcotics Anonymous (it cost her custody of her young daughter), Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo), on trial for rape, breaks out of courthouse custody, killing a judge, a court reporter, and two law-enforcement officers in the process. He’s furious at a system that he feels won’t hear his side, but he’s also desperate to meet the baby son he’s just learned he has. Both Ashley and Brian, then, want to reap the joys of responsible parenting, though their demons obviously have other ideas. But after Brian forcibly enters Ashley’s apartment, the two strangers get the rare opportunity to scare each other straight—on their own terms. Brian snorts a couple lines of his hostage’s ice, they read passages from Rick Warren’s mega-bestseller The Purpose Driven Life, and the single mother, ever resourceful, softens the killer up by cooking him a stack of pancakes.
Deadline: This weekend’s box office should rev up, thanks to Fox’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials which should push past the first installment’s $32.5M opening last year at this time. The film has already opened in overseas markets and has surpassed the first by 40%. Although that kind of percentage increase is not expected to happen domestically, tracking shows the second film based on the YA novel series by James Dashner could end the three-day weekend in the mid-$30M range, maybe $34M-$36M. It opens Thursday in previews at 8 PM. Internationally, expect another 41 markets this weekend as it plays beyond initial territories (the U.K. and Mexico).
Deadline Reports:
Days after closing a deal for The Expendables 2, Arnold Schwarzenegger is in talks to star in Captive, an action thriller that is out to directors with the intention of shooting next year. Emmett/Furla Films is financing the picture, and Randall Emmett and George Furla are producing with Groundswell’s Michael London. Benjamin van der Veen and Kario Salem wrote the script from a story by Nicolai Fuglsig.
Well, I know he's got to work now that he's not the governer but I'm not sure about some of these movie that he's being offered yet. I guess I'm just not used to seeing him in the movies anymore and I'll just have to get used to it again.
