The movie begins with a hostage situation going wrong. Bruce Willis, the negotiator of the situation walks away from his life as a negotiator.A year later he has taken up as chief of police of a small town. When three teens decide to steal a car they like from the home of a wealthy resident things begin to spiral out of control. First the robbery becomes a hostage situation, then the not so law abiding clients of the father up the ante by kidnapping Willis' family so they will be sure that their property won't fall into police hands.
The first 40 or 45 minutes of this film is quite simply some of the best film making I've seen all year. From the opening moments of this film I was hooked in a way that few films have ever manged to do so. Watching this on the TV in my leaving room I had abandoned the edge of the seat and was pacing the floor in front of the TV. This is fantastic stuff. I couldn't understand why people weren't trumpeting this as one of the years best films.
Then about 45 minutes in the film shifts. It stops being a logical carefully plotted movie and becomes something else. The twists and turns , while exciting don't make a great deal of sense. There is a moment when Willis hangs up the phone with his wife promising to rush home, and then moments later he finds that they have been kidnapped and are in the back of a van, the time frame doesn't work. Granted its a powerful moment, but at the same time, you begin to wonder how was it possible. And so it is with the rest of the movie, it works in a typical Hollywood action sort of way, but it doesn't work in the "real" world way that the first half of the film did. Its annoying because the promise of the set up is never fully realized.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad movie. Its not. Its just that the first part of the film showed that the movie had the potential for being a great film and not just a good one. I'm sure after repeated viewings on cable the movie will cease to be a "coulda woulda shoulda" movie in my mind and just be a decent mindless thriller.
If you like action and suspense do see this movie, just be ready for a bumpy ride.
The first 40 or 45 minutes of this film is quite simply some of the best film making I've seen all year. From the opening moments of this film I was hooked in a way that few films have ever manged to do so. Watching this on the TV in my leaving room I had abandoned the edge of the seat and was pacing the floor in front of the TV. This is fantastic stuff. I couldn't understand why people weren't trumpeting this as one of the years best films.
Then about 45 minutes in the film shifts. It stops being a logical carefully plotted movie and becomes something else. The twists and turns , while exciting don't make a great deal of sense. There is a moment when Willis hangs up the phone with his wife promising to rush home, and then moments later he finds that they have been kidnapped and are in the back of a van, the time frame doesn't work. Granted its a powerful moment, but at the same time, you begin to wonder how was it possible. And so it is with the rest of the movie, it works in a typical Hollywood action sort of way, but it doesn't work in the "real" world way that the first half of the film did. Its annoying because the promise of the set up is never fully realized.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad movie. Its not. Its just that the first part of the film showed that the movie had the potential for being a great film and not just a good one. I'm sure after repeated viewings on cable the movie will cease to be a "coulda woulda shoulda" movie in my mind and just be a decent mindless thriller.
If you like action and suspense do see this movie, just be ready for a bumpy ride.