Ransom Review
by Phil Curtolo (curt AT epix DOT net)September 1st, 1997
By Phil Curtolo
Mel Gibson (Braveheart) gave a gripping performance as the father of a young kidnapped boy in Ron Howard’s Ransom.
Gibson plays Tom Mullen, a wealthy business tycoon whose past actions are coming back to haunt him as a deranged psychopath, played by Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump), and his band of low-life thugs kidnap his only son for $2 million. Tom and his wife, Kate, played by Rene Russo (Tin Cup) were instructed not to inform the police, but they contacted the FBI. Minutes later, an elite team of agents led by Delroy Lindo (Broken Arrow) are in Tom’s house and wiring every phone.
The plot sounds average, just like most other kidnap movies that you’ve already seen, and it was nothing more than that. That is until about half-way through the movie.
Suddenly, Tom goes to the Fox 5 news room and makes a live broadcast saying, "This is your ransom. But this is as close as you will ever get to it. Instead, I am offering this money as a reward on your head, dead or alive."
At this point, the plot thickened, and the unusually slow start of the film turned into a suspense-filled action film with great stunts. The last half of the film is very well done.
Another thing that carries this film are the superb performances by Gibson and Sinise, as they collide in a game of wits over their cellular phones for most of the movie. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly commented on the subject: "It makes you wonder what kidnappers did before cell phones."
Before this movie, Sinise played mostly "good guys," first in Of Mice & Men, then in Forrest Gump, and most recently, in Apollo 13. But he was surprisingly devilish and cold in his portrayal of a cop-gone-bad. Gibson, of course, was just being Gibson, in an Oscar-worthy
performance.
Although most of the scenes were quite predictable, Ransom is a very entertaining and suspenseful film.
Grade: B-, ***1/2 out of *****
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