Hostage

Grade: C- | Genre: Action Summary: Bruce Willis is an old pro as a one-man army on a mission to thwart the evil powers that be. This time however, the evil powers are juveniles, and even they are punking him just like Ashton Kutcher has been, dating Demi Moore. The clever but misleading opening credits of Hostage have you wondering what type of film you’re about to get yourself into. The raw blacks and reds are reminiscent of the feel to another Bruce Willis film, the overly gruesome and edgy, Sin City. However, this is no comic book as the credits paint a dark portrait of nervous energy that comes to life as the picture transitions onto a small street outside a home in Los Angeles where Willis’ character, Jeff Talley, is in hostage negotiations with a twitchy suspect ready to blow his fuse at any second. Talley is confident and in control until he loses his grip of the situation as the survival rates of the hostages, the suspect’s young son and wife, quickly drop. He can hear the Lord’s prayer coming through the phone he’s been using to communicate with the suspect signaling that the end is near and that the result won’t be in his favor. He breaks his way into the suspect’s home to find him and his wife dead. When Talley finds the son, who has been shot in the chest, the young boy dies in his arms gasping for air.

The first few minutes of Hostage are riveting and emotionally charged with enough drama to draw you closer to the story and it’s main character. Unfortunately, at about minute eleven and on, all sense of clarity is thrown out the window as the film becomes riddled with enough holes to turn this American cheese into Swiss mold.
It’s now one year later, and Talley has moved to the small town of Bristo Camino, California to take a small-scale position as Police Chief at the local department. Still feeling the effects of the events from a year ago, Talley is content to spend the rest of his career tending to low-key crimes that he could collar in his sleep.
At the moment, he and his wife are not living together and according to their daughter (played by Willis’s real-life first-born, Rumer), are on the road to divorce. You don’t really know why or care about what’s pulling the family apart but are a little annoyed that no explanation is given. This could be easily overlooked if it were not for the mounting flaws that are soon to cross your screen.

Hostage Starring: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett, Michelle Horn, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker, Marshall Allman, Serena Scott Thomas, Rumer Willis Director: Florent Emilio Siri BUYOR RENT IT NOW! You may also like… Assualt on Precinct 13 Die Hard Series

On one normal day, three teens are riding around and spot an Escalade driven by a father, Walter Smith (Kevin Pollak), taking his two kids to school. On a stop at the local convenience store, one of the boys makes an obscene gesture towards the daughter who boldly flips him a deserving middle finger and mouths an obscenity. This is the spark that ignites a forest fire as the teens follow the family home intent on robbing their car.
The Smith house is no joke, or is it? Upscale and heavily secure, you would think that it would have no trouble keeping out undesirables wanting to get in, right? Wrong. Note to self: Climbing over the driveway gates and entering the garage is a sure way to bypass the system. Of course the boys just don’t stop in the garage. They decide to go into the house, and whether they meant to or not, end up taking the family hostage. These are three young delinquents sharing one brain and some how, they manage to gain national news coverage and involve teams of police officers and negotiators. The scene escalates when another group of criminals, apparently associated with Mr. Smith, comes to collect encrypted files hidden in a DVD. I won’t even bother going into that.
Now, it’s Chief Talley to rescue, and the end of the world will just have to wait. Bruce Willis is an old pro as a one-man army on a mission to thwart the evil powers that be. This time however, the evil powers are juveniles and even they are punking him just like Ashton Kutcher has been, dating Demi Moore. What’s even harder to stomach is that the usual tough guy persona that has built Willis’ career has now been softened by last year’s failed negotiations, and his character looks like he’s about to burst out in tears at any moment.
Hostage began with a lot promise, but disappoints on so many levels. I will say that the one redeeming quality was the real mastermind behind the three boys, Mars (Ben Foster), who was a creepy criminal with a very cool and magnetic demeanor, of which he stole from Johnny Depp. The film does it’s best to be convincing, but in the end is laughable, and you’re glad it’s over so you can finally get some sleep. Careful with this one. As the title implies, you feel like you’re trapped with no way out of this film.

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