Captives (1994)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Angela Pope

Writer:

Frank Deasy (writer)

Release Date:

3 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

A beautiful young dentist (Ormond) working in a tough British prison starts to become attracted to a...

Plot Keywords:

Dentist | Prison | Male Female Relationship | Lovers | Erotic

Cast

Julia Ormond	...	Rachel Clifford
Tim Roth	...	Philip Chaney
Keith Allen	...	Lenny
Siobhan Redmond	...	Sue
Peter Capaldi	...	Simon
Colin Salmon	...	Towler
Richard Hawley	...	Sexton
Annette Badland	...	Maggie
Jeff Nuttall	...	Harold
Kenneth Cope	...	Dr. Hockley
Bill Moody	...	Surgery Officer
Nathan Dambuza	...	Moses
Christina Collingridge	...	Katie
Victoria Scarborough	...	Dental Nurse
Anthony Keirnan	...	Blackie

MPAA:

Rated R for a strong sex scene, and for language and some violence.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The tattoos that Tim Roth sports in the film are his own.

Goofs:

Continuity: Rachael closes a door after removing a metal box, but it is shown open soon after.

Quotes:

Sue: What do you really know about him?
Rachel Clifford: I know that he doesn't wear dentures.

overbite, but leaves an impression

The premise of this sounds like something from a bad B movie: She was a beautiful dentist -- in a men's prison! Yet this BBC thriller is surprisingly compelling, largely thanks to the absolutely convincing performances of its two leads, Tim Roth and Julia Ormond. I caught while channel-surfing once what is probably the most famous scene from this relatively little-known movie (the one where Philip and Rachel, ahem, polish the tiles); what intrigued me most about what I might otherwise dismiss as a "Friday night special" was the presence of two recognizable actors. Having recently decided to fill in as many gaps as possible in the list of Tim Roth movies I've seen, I arrived at this one. A truly original script would have scrapped the thriller angle; with actors like these, it's unnecessary to keep viewer attention. Why not focus on a lonely young woman who's been deeply hurt by her husband's adultery, and who is intrigued by the attentions of one of her prison patients, an equally lonely, apparently intelligent and ambitious young man who seems to be doing his best to work towards a successful release. Why not focus on the very real difficulties of their relationship: their intensely sexual attraction to each other, her refusal to take up his invitation to ask why he's in prison, and his very real sense of betrayal when she admits she looked up the case in newspaper files, her own ambiguity over what she really wants from this (revenge on her husband? a bit of rough? the attentions of someone who is apparently attracted to her?). And finally, why not deal with how they might actually respond to his release and the possibility of a life together. That said, the thriller angle does permit some insight into his world, and the boredom and brutality of prison life. But as in many thrillers of this sort, the buildup and the denouement are disproportioned, so things get awfully rushed towards the end. Rachel's predicament is not unlike that of Holly Hunter's character in Living Out Loud; too bad she didn't just think of hitting the singles bars. One could argue she behaves with remarkable stupidity, but as Woody Allen said, the heart knows what it wants. Tim Roth has never hit a wrong note in any film I've seen him in and this is no exception. He has despite his tough-guy demeanour what I can only describe as an elegant physical grace (nice to see the tattoos, too) and eyes which are at once very hard and deeply soulful. I think it's this subtle flexibility which makes him seem perfectly at home both in contemporary roles and in the costume dramas to which Rob Roy seems to have consigned him in the minds of many directors. (Speaking of costumes, Odile Dicks-Mireaux, who did this one, went on to do the wonderfully opulent Gormenghast.) The verdict? Worth a look: maybe even worth a second look.