TRAPPED (screenplay by Greg Iles, based upon his novel*) *Actually not, but that's a long story. Short version: Greg Iles wrote the screenplay & the novel.

Found out that in addition to writing 16 novels, a novella, and a non-fiction book, Greg Iles also played in one band (Frankly Scarlet, which released three albums--Stories I've Heard Before 1995, Oh Yeah! 1998, and Rejoice 2008; I'm going to guess that Greg did not appear on that last release, as his writing life had kicked into full gear by 1999) and plays in another band (The Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include or have included Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Fulghum, Matt Groening, Maya Angelou, Al Kooper, and Roger McGuinn . . . not a bad bunch of folks, huh?). And he wrote the script for a movie: Trapped (2002, which starred Charlize Theron, Courtney Love, Kevin Bacon, and Dakota Fanning). So of course I had to take a look for that movie.

It wasn't hard to find. Amazon had it available to stream (Rent Movie HD $3.99, Rent Movie SD $2.99, Buy Movie HD $12.99, Buy Movie SD $7.99) or for sale (from 1¢ used to $14.98 + $3.99 shipping for new, with many stops in-between). I was going to go for the rent (SD, of course), but before I did that I went to Half-Price to sell some stuff, and while I was waiting for my offer I took a look at their used dvds and . . . guess what? Yep. $3.99. I probably wouldn't have spent that extra buck since I didn't think it'd be a movie I wanted to watch more than once, but then I saw these magic words:

Oh my. Needless to say, Half-Price got my $3.99.

And I decided to watch the movie with the Writer's Commentary on straight off. No eating around the center jelly of the doughnut for me, man. 

And now I have another accolade for Mr. Greg Iles: This is the greatest commentary track I have ever listened to. 1 For three reasons: (1) he talks pretty steadily for the entire 1 hour 45 minute running time, which is seldom the case--especially for a solo commentator, (2) he says wise things, such as saying that one character who is obsessive about time represents (memory, not direct quotation) a person who has little control over his life, and so  keeps a scrupulous watch on time to give him the illusion of control. That's pretty deep, man . . . (3) he is such a kind human being. Early on he points out that in both the novel and the screenplay, he makes sure that the audience will know that the kidnapped child will not come to harm. He later talks about how unfair it is to exploit parents's fears by doing that kind of thing. He also says at one particular intense point that he feels himself tearing up whenever he watches this scene. 

And the movie itself? Well, it was actually quite good. I'm looking forward to going back and watching it straight. Though I will probably have to listen to the director's commentary later on, as well. So here's something that baffles me: the budget for this movie was $30 million, but its box office take was only $13,414,416. What the hell, man? What more can people possibly want? It's a thrilling, intelligent movie, it stars Charlize Theron, one of the most beautiful women in the world, and they say FUCK 57 times. 2 

Now I'm going to go check out some Frankly Scarlet tunes.
Their second and third albums are on Spotify))), and there are a few videos of the band on The You Tub. Pictures at 11.

1 With the exception of Jacqueline's, of course. But it's not fair to compare anyone else with her. I do, however, think that all movies would be improved with a special Autistic Commentary option. Though of course she wouldn't do anything with a rating above PG-13. "I HATE rated R!"

2 No, I didn't count. Can you believe that there's a website for this kind of thing? Only in America. 

BTW . . . Greg Iles has a lovely Southern accent. I guess I should have expected that.

11:00

Listened to and enjoyed both of the albums on Spotify. Rejoice was a Christmas thing, which is not always such a good idea, but there was some oomph on the standards that made them interesting. As I said above, though, I seriously doubt that Greg Iles was involved with the band at this point.

Oh Yeah! was pretty cool, and I am thinking that the guitar work here (which was quite nice) was Mr. Iles. So since I enjoyed both of those albums, I felt compelled to track down Stories I've Heard Before. Found the title track online as a stilleo, and it was good stuff. The double tracking on the vocalist is quite effective, and the lass does have a lovely voice. The stilleo had 0 views when I happened up it, though, and it was posted December 6, 2014. But the stilleo indicated that the song was from the Oh Yeah! album, and when I went back to look, sure enough, there was a song by that title on that album as well. I wonder what's going on there. Anyway . . . I found a copy of Stories I've Heard Before on Amazon for $3.73, so it is now winging its way to me. More news as it happens.