The old adage of nature versus nurture is key in the brand new thriller from Jennifer Chambers Lynch.
When Bob a Cab driving serial killer abducts a woman and child he finds himself taking pity for the first time and allows the boy he calls ‘Rabbit’ to live. Rabbit is now his slave, chained to the home in which Bob lives and kills. Rabbit must now cook, clean and dispose of bodies, whilst maintaining Bobs serial killing scrap book. Only ever allowed to eat the scraps from Bobs plate, Rabbit must do as he’s told but as Rabbit grows older will he be brought into the serial killing fold for simple rewards such as chocolate bars and freedom around the house?
Chained is dark, so dark you might need a torch to find your way out of this thrilling and manipulative flick.
Originally penned as yet another torture porn epic, I have to thank the wonderfully talented Jennifer Lynch for seeing the light in this story, a story that revolves around two characters. The damaged man we call Bob played by Law and Order: Criminal Intent’s Vincent D’Onofrio and Rabbit at first played by Evan Bird and then later by an older Eamon Farren, the three leads are all fantastic and although Evan isn’t in the film for long he’s still a huge part of the story and carries some truly tough and harrowing scenes with a real sense of gravity despite the things he is being asked to do for a boy of his age.
Lynch packs no punches in this character driven event and I call it an event because it is just that! An Event!!
Bob and Rabbit are characters on both sides of the spectrum. Bob is already too far gone for redemption and Rabbit is the kid who was brought up to know right from wrong, he knows everything about Bob is wrong but his survival relies on his ability to be obedient and boy is he the subservient tool that Bob wants him to be, almost to the point where ‘graduation day’ arrives and Rabbit’s present is a little too talkative, will he continue on Bobs legacy or will his fight or flight response kick in?
There’s a huge difference between making a man breakfast and taking a life.
It’s great to see Vincent D’Onofrio move from the side of the law into a role that demands he be one of the men his hunts in his TV show and he really brings Bob and his ticks to life in a performance that really amps up the pace of what could be a truly awful film had the wrong actors been selected in the casting process.
The one problem Chained has as a film, is a touch of pacing. The film becomes slightly long in the tooth around the midpoint and the twist at the end is a brilliant turn BUT the clues scattered along the way are few and far between which makes the ending a real turn off for most viewers. We like to Sherlock Holmes stuff Jennifer, pleaaaaaaaaaaaase pleaaaaaaaaaaaase go back and scatter the bread crumbs a little more because although the ending is great and I’d love to see an expanded version of Chained; however in its current state it’s great but with a few small additions for the detectives in the audience it could truly be EXCELLENT!