The Captor (2019)

Robert Budreau’s new film The Captor receives its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

This is a bank heist film set in 1972’s Stockholm. Lars Nystrom (Ethan Hawke) is the front man here, holding the entire film together, really. Wearing a wig, blue’ish shades (rather cool) and leathery Easy Rider style jacket he runs into a bank, takes hostages and asks for a prison release of his best mate Gunnar Sorensson (Mark Strong), $1 million bucks and a Mustang car, just like the one in the Bullit film with Steve McQueen.

Lightly based on a true story the movie centers on the Stockholm syndrome where the captive Bianca Lind (Noomi Rapace) develops positive feelings and a psychological bond with ‘the captor’ Lars Nystrom. That, it is said, is for survival purposes…

The film is somewhere between a comedy and a thriller, latching onto quirky and absurd. The gripping climax of the film is largely thanks to Ethan Hawke’s acting versatility. He jumps from a crazy, pseudo serious bank robber into hilariously funny/clumsy character in a split second, and it does the trick. There’s no acting without sensible directing and here Budreau’s relationship with Hawke, with whom he previously worked on Born to be Blue, proves fruity. Everything else seems a bit ‘plasticky’ at times, most times. The police boss Chief Mattsson (Christopher Heyerdahl) feels unconvincing and a bit as if he were in a constant and desperate need for a poo in a lou.

Nevertheless, it’s not a bad movie. The 70s furnishing and vintage decorum look convincing and do indeed take you onto an imagination journey for a wee bit.

Need to reiterate once again, if it weren’t for Ethan Hawke’s talents, facial expressions and artistic fragility, the film would be a rather failed endeavor, lost in the pile of slush.

Had a chance to chat with The Captor’s director Robert Budreau after the premiere and it certainly helped as he shed some crucial light on his angles towards the story. He simply just didn’t want to make it look too serious and if one takes it towards a spoof, it tingles the right buds.