The Disappearance of Alice Creed (5 Stars)

This is a beautifully crafted film that excels through its minimalism. There are only three actors, and almost all of the film takes place in a small apartment. The film was made on the Isle of Man, which has a film industry that's independent of the rest of Britain, so there was only a small budget available. We can be glad. Pouring more money into the film would have ruined it. My suspicion is that most of the budget was used to pay the salaries of the three actors, and they deserved it.

Of the three actors, the best known at the time was Gemma Arterton. It was made in 2009, only a year after she appeared in "Quantum of Solace", so she was the film's biggest star. I hope this meant that she received the largest salary. Last year I had an argument with a rather ignorant person on Facebook who claimed that women should be paid the same as men when they appear in a film together. That's stupid! Actors should be paid based on their Star Quality, i.e. how much audience appeal they have after their previous films. In the case of "The Disappearance of Alice Creed" it would have been unfair to pay Gemma Arterton the same as the male actors, because she clearly deserved more.

The second actor in the film is Eddie Marsan, who plays the kidnapper Vic. I consider him to be a capable actor, but after 20 years in acting he's still waiting for his breakthrough. His face is well known to cinemagoers, but he always plays minor roles. This film is the largest role I've seen him play. He obviously doesn't have Gemma Arterton's Star Quality, which is regretful.

The third actor is Martin Compston, who was completely unknown to me when I first watched the film. I searched IMDB and found that he'd played small roles in a few other films I'd seen, so small that I'd missed him. Ironically, my ex-wife walked in on the film this evening, and he was the only one she recognised. She says that he plays the lead role in the television series "Line of Duty". There's a big difference between film and television careers, although the gap has been closing in the last two or three years. The "big actors" appear in films, and the "small actors" appear on television. As a rule of thumb, acting in a television series means more work and less pay. Some actors begin their career in television and progress to film, but the opposite direction is frowned on and considered to be the result of career failure. I know I'm generalising, but occasional exceptions don't mean it's not true. This film was made before "Line of Duty" began, so it's fair to say that Martin Compston had almost no Star Quality.

Now to the film itself: Alice Creed is the daughter of a rich man (who we never see in the film). She's kidnapped by two men and held for a ransom of two million pounds ($2.8 million). I admit that it's disgusting to see the way she's treated, tied to a bed and gagged for most of the film, but I can say in the kidnappers' favour that they're professional; they don't hurt her more than they have to. Interestingly, Gemma Arterton insisted that she should remain tied to the bed even when she wasn't being filmed, to help her play her part more realistically.

The film develops slowly through twists and turns as a psychological thriller. Vic and Danny are no match for her. After her initial shock she plays them against one another.

She also tempts Danny to untie her so they can have some fun. I think you can guess where this is going.

Is this photo a spoiler?

Significantly, the film's title isn't shown until the last few seconds of the film. Today is the third time I've watched it, but I didn't notice this detail until today.

There should be more films like this. We don't need helicopters, car chases and big explosions. All we need to make a good film is a well written plot and good actors. Although, judging by the film's lack of success, the majority of cinema audiences disagree with me.

Success Rate:  - 2.7

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