Hostage Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)March 16th, 2005
"Hostage"
Burned out, ex-LAPD cop, Jeff Talley (Bruce Willis), following a deadly standoff, quit his job as a hostage negotiator and moved his family to the upscale, crime-free burg of Bristo Camino in Ventura County. Crime-free, that is, until three young thugs break into the wrong house and take its family hostage. The mob accountant owner (Kevin Pollak) of the heavily armored house has evidence that could put his gangster boss away for a long time. So the mobster, to protect his "investments," takes Jeff's family captive as incentive for the police chief to save the accountant and his family and keep the incriminating evidence from falling into police hands in "Hostage."
French helmer Florent Siri ("The Nest") has crossed over the Big Pond to take on the task of renewing Bruce Willis as the preeminent action hero since he took over that position in 1988 with "Die Hard." The latter actioner reinvented the genre and made its star, Willis, into an international phenomenon. Since then the actor has never quite reached the hero heights he did in '88 but has certainly made a lucrative career trying to reprise his John McClane-level of action icon.
With "Hostage," Willis travels a well trodden road as a man whose life is nearing ruin because of a terrible murder/suicide incident in his past. Now the chief of police in backwater Bristo Camino, Jeff Talley still has unresolved inner conflicts that have estranged his daughter, Amanda (Rumer Willis), and threaten to ruin his marriage to Jane (Serena Scott Thomas). Heading to work on yet another peaceful day in Ventura County, CA, Jeff has an encounter with the three young men who are up to no good. They pass like ships in the night, though, and go their separate ways.
A while later, the three thugs spot Walter Smith (Pollak) and his children, Jennifer (Michelle Horn) and Tommy (Jimmy Bennett), driving in their fancy Cadillac Escalade and follow them home. The plan is to carjack the Caddy but, when ringleader Dennis (Jonathan Tucker) and his quiet sidekick, Mars (Ben Foster), break in to the Smith house, things go wrong and a hostage crisis begins.
Chief Tulley arrives on the sense after one of his police officers is gunned down in cold blood by Mars. Jeff pulls the cop out of harm's way but she dies before help can arrive. He turns the case over to the County Sheriff's office and heads home to try to patch up his family life. Suddenly, he finds himself under the gun of a gang mystery men, the leader of whom tells Jeff that he had better end the hostage crisis or else. The stranger then shows Tulley his incentive – wife and daughter trussed up and gagged in the back of a van. The Chief has no other recourse but to end the crisis if he wants to save his family. From here things get into kitchen sink territory as coincidence and cliché abound and Jeff must do whatever he can to wrap it all up.
Adapting Robert Crais novel, screenwriter Doug Richardson creates a by-the-numbers action thriller that has all the requisite elements for the genre but falls far short of the originality of "Die Hard." The story manufactures one obstacle after another for our hero, Jeff, and he overcomes them all – with a little help of his inside guy, young Tommy, who has freed himself and acts as Tulley's eyes and ears. Complicating this is loose cannon, Mars, who, we come to find out, gunned a convenient store clerk down and calmly watched as the man died. We know that Mars is the monkey wrench thrown into the works and nothing good will come of him.
There are some imaginative aspects to "Hostage," like Ben Foster's psycho Mars, but I felt that I had been at this trough too many times before. Willis has put aside the wisecracking cockiness of his early years and plays Chief Tulley as a very troubled, sullen man whose life is going down the tubes. It's a change from his past performances but never gets beyond
two-dimensional.
The supporting cast is adequate but do not come across as real people. Second billed Kevin Pollak is unconscious for much of the film, woefully underutilizing the competent actor. Ben Foster lends an oddly compelling sinister nature to his crazy Mars. The rest of the cast do their jobs and collect their paychecks.
Techs are in keeping with the moody nature of the film with cinematographer Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci and production designer Larry Fulton keeping it dark and in tones of blue and gray. There is a nice crispness to the mostly night and interior shots that are punctuated with a slue of explosions and flame that make up the film's big climax. Unfortunately, the big climax does not represent the end of the film and, much to my chagrin, there is the second climax that really wraps thins up. Unfortunately, the second ending feels tacked on, even if it is "necessary" to the plot and only made me want this thing to end.
I braved a blizzard to see "Hostage" and my regret is that the dangerous drive should have been for a better movie. I give it a C.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
