RANSOM
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
Chad'z Rating: *** (out of 4 = OK) 1996, R, 121 minutes [2 hours, 1 minute] [thriller] starring: Mel Gibson (Tom Mullen), Gary Sinise (Jimmy Shaker), Rene Russo (Kate Mullen), Delroy Lindo (Agent Lonnie Hawkins), written by Cyril Hume, Richard Maibum, Alexander Ignon, Richard Price, produced by Brian Grazer, Scott Rudin, Kip Hagopian, directed by Ron Howard.
"Ransom" is a typical Hollywood thriller, but it presents itself in a rather original manner. It becomes overly dramatic and action-packed at times, but everything is connected by such an interesting and suspenseful story it works quite well.
Mel Gibson stars as Tom Mullen, a rich CEO of an airline company. Tom and his wife Kate (Russo) host a science fair in New York's Central Park, and the second they turn their back on their pre-teen son, he is gone. Suddenly the story becomes fast-paced and the suspense element kicks into full gear. When the kidnapper calls we hear a scary, distorted voice which works well. However, I think the film tries too hard to be modern by having the Mullens receive a picture of their son handcuffed to a bed via e-mail (couldn't they just look at the address of the sender to find out who the kidnapper is?).
The film does not focus solely on the Mullens, it also takes time to establish the kidnappers and their efforts to extort $2 million from the Mullens. The kidnappers themselves are the most surprising element to the movie: they are both high and low tech at the same time. It's hard to believe a handful of second-rate computer hackers would be able to elude the FBI as they do. However, the fact they do not fit the organized crime mold is original. We even get some comic relief and good characterization despite the choppy story.
The film is able to balance the drama of the Mullens' grief with some exciting action and an interesting crime story. Gary Sinise is excellent as Jimmy Shaker, a corrupt cop who is the criminal mastermind. He seems to have a personal vendetta against Mullen, but we never really find out why. You love to hate him because he's always in control and there aren't any cheesy evil laughs.
Mullen turns the tables on the kidnappers by refusing to pay their ransom, and instead offers it as a reward for their capture and the return of his son. I thought this plot device was great, the only problem it causes is lots of melodramatic screaming arguments between Tom and Kate, between the kidnappers, and between both.
Twist endings are the backbone of great thrillers and crime stories, and this film is no exception. The game of cat and mouse is essentially reversed throughout the last act. It's difficult to describe all the details and twists, but the final act is loaded with them. Both sides win and lose at the same time, unfortunately, this is accomplished through a completely over-the-top sequence the film seemed to be avoiding all along.
It's difficult to make films that combine drama, crime, action, and suspense, and although "Ransom" isn't perfect, it's still a good effort.
Please visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews