Trap is a surprisingly straightforward thriller from a writer/director known for his twistiness. In this case, the premise itself is the twist, turning the “everyman unwittingly stuck in a dangerous situation” concept on its head by making the everyman the villain. Following the introduction, M. Night Shyamalan just tells the story of a killer desperately trying to avoid capture after unexpectedly finding himself in a vulnerable position.
The first two-thirds or so of this are pretty compelling, despite the screenplay taking things a little too easy on its characters. After that, it reaches full-on contrivance as Shyamalan can’t quite figure out how to end things in a satisfying way. It is entertaining seeing this maniac try to think himself out of trouble for a while though, because it isn’t until fairly late that its flaws truly begin to show.
Cooper is a loving father taking his teenage daughter, Riley, to see her favorite singer, Lady Raven, in concert. Things are going great, then Cooper, noticing a huge police presence, discovers that the event is actually an elaborate setup to catch notorious serial killer The Butcher, who is expected to be in attendance. Of course, Cooper himself is The Butcher, so now he has to attempt to evade the authorities without alerting Riley.
The most captivating thing about Trap (97 minutes, plus a mid-credit scene) is the addition of the father-daughter relationship. What complicates it is that Cooper, a man who cannot shake the urge to commit unspeakable acts upon total strangers, genuinely seems to love his daughter. He took her to the concert not to “appear normal” as a cover, but because he’s proud of her and knows what this will mean to her. He is constantly split between being delighted by her joy and scanning the building for a way out. It gives some depth to a character that has none otherwise. It also provides the movie with extra tension because the audience doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Riley, such as, say, finding out her father is a psychopath.
Now about that tension. One thing Shyamalan struggles with here is sustaining it. The reason is that he keeps making things too easy for Cooper. People tell him things they definitely shouldn’t, he gets exactly the supplies he needs at any given time and gets in/out of secure areas without arousing suspicion. It didn’t feel like he was outsmarting his adversaries so much as they had no plan beyond “surround the building.” That benevolence of the screenplay gets extended to a couple of other characters later on in the story, which makes the last half hour or so increasingly annoying.
Josh Hartnett was an inspired choice to play Cooper. He’s got that harmlessly handsome everyman quality that makes it believable that this guy could hide his true nature from so many people for so long. Unfortunately, he (or someone involved in the production) made the decision to have him regularly sneer at the camera or switch suddenly between facial expressions. He might as well be waving his hands wildly while shouting “I’m crazy!” It’s distracting and unnecessary. The lack of subtlety takes away from the basic premise of him being an ordinary dad by day and a controlled murderer by night. Trap is building to him losing his calm. However, Hartnett’s performance makes it seem like he was barely calm to begin with.
Even the M. Night Shyamalan movies that don’t work at all have something to take away from them. What is frustrating here is that it does work for a bit. Even its issues are kind of enjoyable to watch. Then Shyamalan gets carried away with teasing that Cooper is about to get caught, the contrivances pile up and things drag on. The end of the concert felt like the movie should be wrapping up, yet there’s another act left and that’s when things stop working. Trap is decent, but it probably needed at least one more rewrite to tighten things up.
3 out of 5
Cast:
Josh Hartnett as Cooper
Ariel Donoghue as Riley
Saleka Shyamalan as Lady Raven
Hayley Mills as Dr. Grant
Alison Pill as Rachel
Written/Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
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