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Back Shelf Beauties
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Hostage We already know Bruce Willis is a leading action hero, but he brings a new fire to his role in Hostage. Face it, if some 20-something punk like Ashton Kutcher was taking over your family, wouldn't you hit the stunt guy a little harder? I thought so. Bruce Willis stars as Jeff Talley - a former LA hostage negotiator who moved to a small town to become the local police chief. In the middle of what should be a typical, quiet, crime free day, three teens get in over their heads as they attempt to steal a car from a local rich guy, Walter Smith (Kevin Pollack). It quickly turns into a hostage situation, but with a horrible twist. Not only does Talley have to save Smith's family, his own wife and daughter also are in danger after being kidnapped by someone trying to influence Talley's handling of the Smith kidnapping. Can Talley save both families? Why has his family been dragged into this? Hostage is a passable movie that works because Bruce Willis is a good actor. The story from writer Doug Richardson (based on the novel by Robert Crais) gets a bit overcomplicated and drawn out too long with Talley forced to worry about his own family and the involvement of bigger outside forces. However, Richardson does a good job establishing Talley's character, his relationship with his family (including an appearance by Willis' real life daughter, Rumer, who gets to tell her Dad how much she hates him, which is every teenager's dream) and how he relates to the small town police force. On the other hand, director Florent Emilio Siri is trying so hard to make the movie feel ominous that it devolves into melodrama with plenty of slow moving camera shots of the house as police surround it, scenes putting little kids in danger, foreboding music and more weighty stares and pondering than you might be hoping for. Siri slows down the action, but doesn't have the material to fill in the slow spots with something taught and gripping. If the actors could draw us in and make us care more about the characters, and the dialogue supported more interesting interactions between them, it would have hooked me. Instead, we have a decent movie where Willis has to carry the burden on his shoulders more than he should. I have been a Bruce Willis fan since he was on Moonlighting (and own his blues album to prove it, I can't believe I bought that), so I have a great deal of respect for his ability to make a middle of the road movie better. Siri uses Willis to the best of his ability as he displays his physical skills in action scenes. Also, we get close-ups of Willis pondering his situation with that jutting jaw of his displaying a look of anger and disgust at what has been done to two innocent families (maybe he thinks about his ex-wife dating Ashton Kutcher to get motivated enough to deliver that sickened look on his face, it works for me). Talley is a complicated and interesting character because Willis makes him more than he in on the script's pages. Other actors aren't as good, and it shows. Jonathan Tucker as lead teen troublemaker, Dennis, is emblematic of the movie's weaknesses. He is much too over the top in his nervousness, while Ben Foster as Mars is out of step as the kooky teen of the trio. Instead of making a gradual transition into being a kook, it happens quite quickly because the script calls for it, instead of some natural progression, and too goofy, because Foster doesn't show the depth to make Mars interesting or truly dangerous. Maybe that's editing, so I won't come down too hard on the kid. Overall, Hostage is a competent movie that goes about 5 minutes too long. It keeps you interested in the plot, it's easy to follow, and you get to see Bruce Willis kick some booty. You'll have to read the gossip pages to find out whose booty he was checking out at a party after the movie's premiere (Lindsay Lohan, and she was into it! Bruce is the man. Check and Mate, Mr. Kutcher). 2 ½ Waffles (Out of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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