All things being equal, 'Trapped' would be a fairly conventional R-rated thriller. There are the requisite action sequences, the typical psychotic lead criminal, a couple of moderately interesting plot twists just to keep things from being completely predictable. There are many naughty words (the 'F' word in particular is used so often it becomes rather monotonous), and several very intense moments, making the 'R' rating inevitable and fully justified.

The story involves the kidnapping of the young daughter of a Doctor and his wife. The kidnappers use a plan that has worked successfully for them four times previously, each time resulting in the child being returned safely, and the crime never being reported. Despite the fact that the lead kidnapper, Joe (played by Kevin Bacon), clearly lays out the rules for the parents of his latest victim immediately after the kidnapping, and each parent knows that deviating from the rules could result in their daughter being killed, for some reason both parents keep doing things to antagonize Joe and his wife Cheryl (played by Courtney Love). At times I wanted to scream at the two of them to quit trying to be smart and just protect their kid.

Ah, but there was a reason why I felt that way so strongly. In this movie all things are NOT equal. There's a special factor that makes it really worth seeing: the performance of Dakota Fanning as the kidnapped girl, Abby Jennings. Dakota succeeded in making Abby so believable, so sympathetic, so lovable, so compelling, that the viewer can't help but care deeply about what happens to her. Since everything the other characters do has a potential impact on Abby, this greatly elevates the tension level of the entire movie, and keeps the viewer breathlessly waiting and hoping for the moment to come when Abby is finally safe again. As with 'Taken' and "I Am Sam,' Dakota Fanning's performance makes the whole production significantly better than it otherwise would have been. 'Trapped' is not a great movie; but thanks to Dakota, it is a good one.

There is one aspect of Dakota's performance that deserves special mention: her character has severe asthma, and twice during the film she had to simulate a bad attack. I happen to be asthmatic myself, and I can assure you that Dakota's depiction of a severe attack was dead on. The only thing missing was audible wheezing, but that's something that can't really be acted, even by the greatest young actor ever; it needed to be added afterwards as a sound effect. Btw, I have the DVD of the movie, which naturally has a bunch of extras, including a 'Making of Featurette.' At one point there's a brief piece of footage from between takes of the last scene that involves Abby's first asthmatic episode. As the actors are waiting for the next take to begin, Dakota Fanning can be seen running in place. Her character is supposed to be out of breath in the scene as a result of the asthma attack, and Dakota obviously wanted to actually be out of breath when shooting started, so she could play the scene as authentically as possible. I don't believe any director would tell a seven-year-old to do this; it had to be Dakota's own idea. Clearly, she is very committed to excellence in her performances, which is one of the reasons why she's the best young actor ever.

If you can put up with the chronic obscenities and intense situations (and are old enough to watch an R-rated movie, of course), Dakota Fanning's performance makes 'Trapped' a film worth seeing.