The Disappearance of Alice Creed
Cinema Nova, 12/10/2010
Status: Behind by 6 films
I think writer-director J BLAKESON had just read Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Way Out when he turned his mind to The Disappearance of Alice Creed, a claustrophobic thriller with a cast of three and a shifting roster of power, loyalty and allegiances. The drama (if not the staging) unfolds in the manner of a very well done stage play. Only towards the end, when it begins to feel more like a film than a play does it lose it’s momentum and my interest.
Alice (GEMMA ATHERTON, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, St Trinian’s) is kidnapped by two near-do-wells (EDDIE MARSAN, Sherlock Holmes, Me and Orson Welles, and MARTIN COMPSTON, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) who intend to ransom her for a couple of bag loads of cash. As each act unfolds, more information comes to light and more and more, each character is not what they seem.
The director trusts his script, which is generally good but at times the dialogue is clunky and signposts a few of the plot points with ticker-tape parade obviousness. More importantly, he trusts his actors, with long shots and extreme close ups, and they serve the film well. I think Sartre would have been proud.
