TRAP
* * ½
(Good Acting/Jumbled Plot)
Josh Hartnett plays a loving father/serial killer in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest attempt to shock and confuse his audiences.
Cooper (Hartnett) takes his young teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a rock concert by Lady Raven, the hottest performer on the circuit. The singer is played by Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka.
In an unusual plot development, we know very early on that the FBI has knowledge that the serial killer named Monster will attend the concert, saturating the arena with security personnel.
We also know that Cooper is the Monster.
We learn much later how the FBI knows he will be there and plans to catch him as he leaves the building.
Along the way we are given obvious clues that Cooper is the Monster, as he steals access passes, sets off fire alarms, obtains an FBI walkie talkie and manages to perform other tasks by sheer luck and being in the right place at the right time.
Meanwhile, his daughter is enjoying the concert like a true fan, screaming and singing along, knowing every lyric, but oblivious to what Daddy is doing.
Cooper manages to convince one of Lady Raven’s staff to choose his daughter to go on stage with the star in a special dance routine at the concert’s finale, setting up one overly contrived escape route for Cooper.
We are privy to how he manages to attend the concert and escape with the star, but WHY is the big question.
All this leads to an unbelievable ending that will have you attempting to answer a dozen questions as to motive, plan and a dozen contrived coincidences.
An A for Hartnett and Donoghue. A C- for Shyamalan.
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