User Reviews

Okay, so one of the greatest strengths of a thriller is normally a totally unexpected twist - but in this case the exact opposite is true.

The film starts out as a dark, claustrophobic thriller - the kind we used to get in the days of SE7EN and Silence of the Lambs, etc. However, the twist the movie delivers, and it's final conclusion, ultimately end up completely derailing this film and turning it into a train wreck of absurdity.

At the end you feel like you've watched two different movies, and in this case that's not a good thing.

There's also some really annoying plot/character issues which start to appear prior to the moment of the movie-derailing twist (looking back now these were warning signs of what was about to unfold).

For example, the daughter goes from being a frightened and confused teenage captive to being the solid rock/savior for the other victims within a matter of scenes, before finally ending the film in the role of avenging angel.

Then there's the confusing motivation of the antagonist - why does he need so many babies? Did he always plan to make babies with his victims? Why was he making babies with his victims anyway? Why would he let one infertile victim live and become so central to his plans when one of the key plot points involves driving home the fact that infertile women are surplus to his requirements, and are killed because of this?

At the end of the day this movie just didn't know what it wanted to be - a dark serial killer mystery with a touch of gritty realism, or an escapist thriller with a mega twist.

If it had just chosen one or other of these two paths it would have probably worked a lot better, but because it tried to do too much, the plot twist and final ending, which would have been great in an escapist thriller, actually end up completely sabotaging the film.

No this is not Cusacks' worst movie by a long shot . Quickly glancing through his filmography i picked out 9 movies between 96 and this which are far less satisfying. He is not stretched here but puts in a solid performance. The plot is basically a variation on Kiss the Girls with a touch of 8mm at the end. These are two excellent movies to plagiarise.

The twist, ridiculous as it is, is good and i didn't see it coming. It is incredulous, but not as much as the spot of off screen surgery performed by the daughter on one of her fellow kidnap victims.

Carpenter is good but Roberts steals the show as the kidnapper/killer. Maybe i'm feeling generous because i have watched so many poor movies over the Christmas holiday period. I find more often than not though the rubbish review movies or straight to DVD fare are much better than the critics favourites. The Factory being a case in point.

WARNING - SPOILER AHEAD!!!

Okay, so this is my first ever summary of a movie. I've seen it recently on Amazon Prime and it wasn't that bad.

The film is very well made in terms of acting and cinematography. Certainly not an Acedmy Award Winner, but very solid. The villain is portrayed by Dallas Roberts and i believe him every second of this movie. John Cusack is awesome as always, although his last big hit was a few years ago.

The story is intriguing and kept me at the edge of my seat.

What bothered me most was the ending - i really liked it, since John Cusack died and was betrayed by his partner Kelsey. But i just knew that Carl had an accomplice besides the big black guy the minute they drove to his home. So for me, Kelsey being Carls girlfriend or wife or whatsoever was no surprise at all.

Abby finding out about Kelsey being a bad guy was also unnecessary in my opinion. The end would have even been better, if she hadn't find out.

So in the end, the movie "The Factory" is a very solid 6/10.

A psychopath who has a habit of killing prostitutes is back after a break of several years in order to return and kidnapping womens. After a prostitute goes missing, Detective Mike Fletcher with his partner Kelsey Walker get this case to investigate. Mike has a 17 year old daughter witch does not behave very nicely with her family, she wants all the time not to be treated as a little girl and ask for more freedom. She sneaks out of the house one night and she goes to meet with her boyfriend but even he does not understand her so she walks away but is approached by a stranger and taken to the " factory " of which are still two girls. Mike is now forced to forget all he has to do at work and focus on finding his daughter as soon as possible before it is too late. Aided by Kelsey and using the involvement by Darryl an assistant who works at the hospital and that has a link with the killer, giving him the medications he needs to fulfill his plans he will begin a race against time but his feeling and the love for Abby will make him give up or will be able to bring his daughter back home?

After a promising start the film begins to lose its action gradually becomes dull with stupid long and unnecessary scenes, towards the end has a twist but will only wake us up a little bit from our sleep after we nearly dozed off.

And what up with that painful song from the ending credits? This movie had to be silly till the very end or what?

This movie is a very poorly written copy of many similar, better films in the police drama genre. The script heavily borrows from other movies, and the sole purpose of about ninety minutes of the film seems to be a by the numbers hollow shell just there to prop up the "twist" everyone has mentioned. This twist becomes apparent about ten to fifteen minutes before it's implementation and drastically reduces the enjoyment of the movie overall. Cusack is Cusack, which is a good thing for long time fans. But if anything, 'The Factory' stands as proof that a well known A list actor cannot carry a sub par B grade movie, even with acting that has carried him through more than a dozen high budget flicks. I absolutely do not recommend 'The Factory'. If your a fan of sedate John's, I'd advise you to rent one of his earlier films--something other than 'The Raven'.

I love many of the actors in the movie. While people seem to think that John Cusak's attitude was off, I would have to say it was spot on.

He was playing a cop who believed there was a serial killer but there was no proof and the victims were call girls.

He is getting pressure to remove the case from active to cold as it has been 3 years and he is obsessed. He has a garage filled to the case while he is at home.

The serial killer takes woman and gets them pregnant to make a family. That is fine. He cuts up body parts.

Okay then who takes care of the babies. It has been 3 years of missing woman. Did nobody else make babies? We have some babies here but they are all under 1 how is that possible.

He seems to cycle only in the winter which means he grabs woman then allows them time to have children. Last cycle was last winter so how are these babies so young? One of the girls downstairs had a baby before so there has to be one at least 9 mths old.

The other elephant in the room is who is taking care of the kids? This guy is stalking girls, torturing, raping, and cleaning up his messes but yet the kids are unattended? Nobody hears the kids? Even if it is the girl that is caring for them would that not be obvious.

The other issue I have is his partner. It was not a twist. It really wasn't. It was a bit blatant. When a cop's kid goes missing, people go to the mat for them. If she was not a cop's kid they would have just claimed runaway, but they have a witness that she was taken by someone.

Instead John Cusak's character is constantly being told not to do anything and to go home and rest. Every time clues seemed to make more sense, he was being pressed harder to go home. It made his partner who he had not had for very long, really was not going to the mat for him, and was constantly impeding his work look off. On top of that Cusak is a vet. He has been on the force for 18 years, the way she talks to him you would think she was the vet instead of some new transfer.

The movie did well in showing what it was like for a cop trying to work a case that nobody believes in. It was believable.

The chain of command between his partner did not make sense.

Many of the stuff she did would have fallen apart quickly had Cusak been anywhere near the department.

Jennifer Carpenter's lines were very repetitive and got to the point that it was obvious she was trying to get him out of the way. It would have been nice to see a bit of subtlety.

The serial killer seemed to demonstrate most well. There are multiple examples of how serial killers are not as smart as they seem and are constantly stumbling into messes that they have luck enough to get through (not always sometimes they are caught). His room seemed to say that he knew who was or wasn't a cop but could not tell the difference between a call girl and a kid who just got out of a diner.

By the end of the movie, I have to wonder what the partner will be doing now that it is all over considering she has all of these children with no birth certificates, no ssn, and all of them around the same age. If she is no longer a cop how is she affording that house and those kids.

Gary (Dallas Roberts) has a hobby. He kidnaps prostitutes and impregnates them. He also kills a "pre-op transgender prostitute." (The best surprise is no surprise.) Mike Fletcher (John Cusack) and Kelsey Walker (Jennifer Carpenter) are two Buffalo detectives assigned to find the missing girls. This is not a who-dun-it. We see the culprit. The first part of the film establishes character and dysfunctional relationships. When Abby (Mae Whitman), Mike's prostitute looking daughter, becomes the latest missing victim, Mike crosses the line to find her.

First off, I love John Cusack, but he is no Liam Neeson. This doesn't have the action level or intensity of "Taken", or even "Taken 2." We watch as Mike tries to locate his daughter as well as we see his daughter being "cared for," so there is no feel of urgency for the audience as there is for Mike who is trying to piece things together. There is also a flashback sequence that pops up from time to time. This ties to a twist which made the film er, um...silly.

The movie is a "B" grade crime/drama/thriller. Might work as a rental. Soundtrack played "Shuffle off to Buffalo" for no apparent reason other than the fact it has the word "Buffalo" in it. Fairly lame.

Parental Guide: F-bombs, sex?, no nudity.