A wealthy businessman's son is kidnapped for a US$2,000,000 ransom. This causes everyone to behave in completely unbelievable ways, everyone from the child's parents, to the police and on to the kidnappers. There were occasional plot turns which did make the story more exciting for a moment or two, but these were far a few between. I have the feeling that a good story was kidnapped and held for ransom but that something went badly wrong and the good story disappeared never to be seen again.

Tense thriller where Mel Gibson turns the tables on the people who kidnap his son by offering the ransom money as a bounty on the kidnappers heads. Gibson and Rene Russo have the same spark they had in Lethal Weapon 3 and Gary Sinese gives what is probably his best performance.

Sehr spannend und gut gemachter Thriller, der es schafft, einen großen Teil der Spannung bis zum Schluss aufrecht zu erhalten.
Mel Gibson, Rene Russo und Gary Sinise spielen sehr überzeugend.
Ein guter Film für einen Samstagabend.

Not bad just nothing special.

Brilliant underrated movie .riveting performance by mel .2nd half reactions come as a complete shocker

Surprisingly prescient.

Good acting, interesting plot, but not flawless.

A wealthy businessman's son is kidnapped for a US$2,000,000 ransom. This causes everyone to behave in completely unbelievable ways, everyone from the child's parents, to the police and on to the kidnappers. There were occasional plot turns which did make the story more exciting for a moment or two, but these were far a few between. I have the feeling that a good story was kidnapped and held for ransom but that something went badly wrong and the good story disappeared never to be seen again.

Not nearly as enjoyable as I remembered it to be. Don't get me wrong, it's entertaining mainly due to Mel Gibson's usual emotional performance acting. But take him out of it and you end up with a flat traditional drama kidnapping type of film.

B

Engrossing and well-acted, with a gallery of stalwart supporting characters, I was eventually wondering why it felt like it was holding something back and then it started to dawn on me. The whole movie is anchored in this tug of war between airline magnate Mullen and corrupt cop Shaker, with Mullen's son hanging in the balance - Richard Price's setup feels a bit lenient and reductive, just shortchange the boy by employing him as a bargaining chip so two hot-headed alpha males can be pit against one another. (69%)

Tense thriller where Mel Gibson turns the tables on the people who kidnap his son by offering the ransom money as a bounty on the kidnappers heads. Gibson and Rene Russo have the same spark they had in Lethal Weapon 3 and Gary Sinese gives what is probably his best performance.

Sehr spannend und gut gemachter Thriller, der es schafft, einen großen Teil der Spannung bis zum Schluss aufrecht zu erhalten.
Mel Gibson, Rene Russo und Gary Sinise spielen sehr überzeugend.
Ein guter Film für einen Samstagabend.

Not bad just nothing special.

Decent kidnap thriller from Ron howard