RANSOM
A film review by Rebecca Wan
Copyright 1997 Flying Inkpot
Director : Ron Howard Screenplay: Cyril Hume (story), Alexander Ignon, Richard Maibaum (story), Richard Price. Produced by: Touchstone Pictures Running Time: 120 mins Cast: Mel Gibson (Tom Mullen), Rene Russo (Kate Mullen), Gary Sinise (Jimmy Shaker), Delroy Lindo (Agent Lonnie Hawkins), Lili Taylor (Maris Connor) Rating: **1/2 out of *****
CODE BORING
In RANSOM, Mel Gibson and Rene Russo lose their son to a handful of grungy kidnappers in Central Park and spend the rest of the movie trying to get him back.
Gibson plays Tom Mullen, a Self-Made Airline Millionaire who's a bit of a publicity hound, and Rene Russo, who is possibly the only Hollywood actress capable of smouldering with a huge black bruise on her temple, is his wife, Kate. While attending a Junior Science competition in the park, junior Mullen (played by Nick Nolte's real life son, Brawley) himself disappears and not much later, the Mullen parents receive a ransom voice message, with a digitized film image of their son taped and handcuffed, through email.
That's about the coolest and most interesting part of the film, other than a nice bit at the end involving a lot of cut glass sticking out of the kidnapper's throat in a police showdown. Director Ron Howard takes us through the movements of the kidnapping with a good sense of pace, throwing in a number of nice suspenseful moments, and even introduces a Plot Twist that I suppose would be exciting if I (and probably you too) didn't already know was going to happen from watching the million trailers that have been running in entertainment previews and the theatres.
Mullen sets out intending to pay the $2 million-dollar ransom demanded, but a botched exchange situation (mostly due to the over-eager FBI swat team that always botches things up in films like these) soon convinces him that the kidnappers actually don't intend to return his son at all. In a dramatic turn of events, he reverses his decision and makes use of the one weapon that has served him well in previous battles--publicity--to combat the kidnappers. Actually it's only just that one Head Kidnapper who keeps in contact with Mullen, and with whom Mullen develops an intensely personal, adversarial relationship.
Eventually, though, things take the expected turn of events. If you don't believe me, ask yourself these questions and see if you don't think you already know the answers: will the Mullen son return safely to the fold? Are the bad guys ultimately made to Pay For Their Crimes? Will Ron Howard continue to make moving, powerfully emotional human drama-type of films that make for Gripping Box Office Successes?
RANSOM is a pretty OK film for S$7, mostly because director Ron Howard does a good job of keeping the suspense up and there are some genuinely likable bits in it. There's good dramatic support from both the kidnapper and FBI-agent posses (played by Delroy Lindo, Lili Taylor, Gary Sinise, Liev Schreiber, Evan Handler and Donnie Wahlberg) that keep vigil on either side throughout the entire ordeal (although there really isn't that much of a difference between either side; as it turns out, they're all Basically Good People except for the Evil Brains of the Outfit). There are also number of nice cinematographic points made by photographer Piotr Sobocinski, who beautifully photographed RED.
In the end, though, RANSOM is just boring. The kind of film that delivers everything it's supposed to, but makes you wonder why it chose to be that kind of film in the first place. Mel Gibson, whose face is even blander than Duncan Watt's on a bad day, dutifully runs the gamut of emotions from determined to almost deranged parent, and Rene Russo is charming as ever in her frantic, fragile disarray. Still, watch this in the theatres only if you're into a jazzed-up, fancifully rendered "Code Red" with production values beyond the dreams of lowly TCS producers. Otherwise, turn up Jonathan Lim and wait for the LD to come out.
Rebecca Wan enjoys "Code Red" because it is just like real life, only on TV. She once kidnapped a relative's top but had to give it back almost at once when a drastic cutting off of allowance was threatened. All in all, it wasn't so different from RANSOM.
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