Posted 1:48 AM by Steve
My review of "Hostage": Not up to par.

First of all, Bruce Willis must make better script choices. He has successfully made the transition from action hero with his sensitive and nuanced portrayal of a non-action character two of M. Night Shyamalan's films, "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable". Willis' range in exceptional in this film and so I won't throw any stones at his performance. But, please...please don't ever act with a beard, Bruce, you're a hero to follicly-challenged. The less hair you have on screen the more you will appeal to your biggest demographic.

The concept was good in theory. A couple of misfits get in over their collective heads in a car-jacking/home-invasion gone awry. Willis is the burnt-out small town sheriff and former big-time L.A. hostage negotiator. When it turns out that the misfits have a bona fide sociopath in their midst things get ugly (and uncomfortable for the audience). Add to this situation the fact that the home these dim-wits have invaded belongs to a accountant for the mob. So, to summarize, this entire movie places us in a two-hour situation akin to the now famous train station steps scene from "The Untouchables".

O.K. complaint time. What's with the directors obsession with this nut-job character? The idea that some sick sociopathic kid could somehow match wits and lethal skills with trained law enforcement personnel (much less professional mob killers) is simply asinine. I felt the dwelling on the torture of the children at the hands of this character was a touch too cruel and manipulative. But, I guess anything goes as long as the good guys get to ride off into the sunset in the minds of the Hollywood bean-counters.

Where did the Talley character get his proficiency in assault techniques? We know at some point he was a trained policeman. But it is never established that he is skilled or capable of the effort he makes to resolve the situation. We have only seen him as a brave but ineffective hostage negotiator with more balls than brains and a passive small town sheriff.

How did the "fake" F.B.I. team ever get NEAR the house. Are we as an audience supposed to suspend our disbelief to this degree? Anyone who has worked in the law enforcement field knows this idea is ludicrous. Even such routine things as transporting prisoners in sensitive areas law enforcement credentials are subjected to a great deal of scrutiny by trained individuals possessing the skills to smell a rat. Driving up in a van marked "FBI" doesn't cut it.

Other than that, there are very few great action scenes in this film and the most compelling character is the kid who crawls around in the ventiliation ducts to arrange the escape of his family. Was this a "Die Hard" prequel with our young hero portraying early John McClain? I kept waiting for the kid to say "Come out to the coast, we'll have a few laughs."