Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015)

"Kidnapping Mr. Heinekin" from 2015 is a case of what happens when the true story is told so rigorously that it saps the excitement of the story.Beer tycoon Alfred Heineken's 1983 kidnapping resulted in the largest ransom ever paid, 16 million Euros. The job was executed by Cor van Hout (Jim Sturgess), Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington), Jan Boelaard (Ryan Kwanten), Frans Meijer (Mark van Eeuwen), and Martin Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel), men turned down by the bank for a business loan who resort to crime. Heineken himself is played by Anthony Hopkins.Unfortunately there is not enough back story about the criminals, about Heineken himself, or about Heineken's chauffeur who is also kidnapped. The whole movie is about the kidnapping, attempts to get the ransom, and the men dispersing in order to hide out. There is just not enough to pull the movie together into anything exciting. Anthony Hopkins is fantastic, of course, but he doesn't have that big of a role. He can't really carry the film. As Heineken, he remains calm and isn't afraid to ask for things that will make his stay chained in a room more comfortable - books, better food, etc. His main concern seems to be his chauffeur (David Dencik) who seems really frightened. It's easy to see, from this performance anyway, how Heineken built his company with such success. He has a keen analytical mind and inner strength. Too bad we didn't get to see more of it, it might have helped.The rest of the acting is good but somehow one stays disassociated from the kidnappers, probably because we don't know that much about them. Not horrible, but not the best crime film you'll ever see.

This film is based on such a bizarre crime, that it almost seems unreal. 'Kidnapping Mr. Heineken' or 'Kidnapping Freddy Heineken' as it's known in some foreign markets is the true life story of a group of friends who decide to kidnap the owner of Heineken Beer and force a ransom for millions of dollars. This crime actually happened back in the early 80s in the Netherlands.It's a decent enough story, however director Daniel Alfredson never brings any of the characters to life, nor does the story have any real intent other than just showing what happened, before abruptly ending after the last person was arrested. Alfredson is a great director too. His resume includes a couple of the original versions of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' series where his younger brother Thomas directed the original 'Let The Right One In' film as well as 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'.So off the bat, Daniel nor his brother Thomas are exactly lightweights. But with 'Kidnapping Mr. Heineken', Alfredson really only wanted to show the actual events with no depth whatsoever. The cast is solid as well with Sir Anthony Hopkins being chained and confined to a cell through most of the film as he plays Mr. Heineken. His kidnappers are played by Jim Sturgess ('Across the Universe'), Sam Worthington ('Avatar'), Ryan Kwanten ('True Blood'), amongst a couple others.This group of friends seem to be paid be some unknown person to evict and literally throw out squatters living in condemned housing. But these guys want more money and decide to kidnap the wealthiest person for a big ransom. That lucky person is Freddy Heineken of the beer company of the same name. They want to come across as professionals, which they are anything but, so they rob a bank to secure financing to build a sound proof room to make it look like an organized crime outfit executed this job.I'm sure you already know the outcome or can read it about it in a number of books, but was it worth making a film about? While the answer may be "yes", there needs to be some sort of depth to the characters other than that one of their girlfriend's is pregnant. Beyond that aspect, each kidnapper might as well be the same exact person. There just isn't much to work with, which is a shame. Sir Anthony Hopkins turns in a great performance, but is on screen for only a few minutes, and doesn't give us time to connect or sympathize with him whatsoever. At the very end of the film, which ends abruptly, there are title cards for each character of what eventually happened with them. The two lead kidnappers went to prison for a decade, but upon being released became the leaders of the biggest and most vicious mafias in the Netherlands.This would have made for such a better movie to see their rise to power with this kidnapping starting the entire reign of terror. Why they didn't make that, I'll never know. But as this film goes, 'Kidnapping Mr. Heineken' doesn't amount to much other than watching a few people kidnap a wealthy person and struggle with whether or not to release him or wait for the ransom money.

'Kidnapping Freddy Heineken' is a story about a gang of Dutch crooks who decide that holding one of Holland's wealthiest businessmen for ransom will be a fast-track to easy money. It's hardly an inspiring premise, but the thing that makes it – slightly – better than the rest, is that it's based on a true story.If you check out the literature online about it, you'll see that – surprise, surprise – liberties have been taken with the plot, but, from what I can gather, it is reasonably faithful – if you excuse the obvious parts which have been 'Hollywooded up' to speed the story up. The second plus point is Anthony Hopkins, who plays the titular millionaire. Always a good performance from 'Sir Tony.' Unfortunately, he's not in it as much as most of us would probably like. The main story focuses on the criminals, half of which are pretty bland, although one is played by Sam Worthington and another does have a family who features prominently, fleshing out his character a bit more. You may have to wait about forty-five minutes before we meet Hopkins though.The film does its best to get us to empathise with the criminals and, for the most part, it sort of succeeds. We can see that they're the down-on-their-luck sorts who are only really after the money, but, at the end of the day, they are criminals, so – deep down – we're pretty much waiting for them to get their comeuppance.If you're interested in the history of the case, it's probably best to read one of the books. Granted, I haven't, but I'm happy to settle for the big screen adaptation. Yeah, it passes the time – it's nothing special and I probably won't remember it in a year or so, but it kept me just about entertained enough while I was watching it.

The title says it all: "The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken." Director Daniel Alfredson's take on the 1982 abduction of the Dutch brewing magnate breaks no new ground. However, the film is engrossing and well paced, despite an evident low-budget European production. Based on real events, the movie depicts a kidnapping that resulted in the largest ransom ever paid for a single individual. Set in Amsterdam, five down-on-their-luck buddies seemingly concoct the abduction and a preliminary bank robbery without a great deal of deep thought or careful planning. Somewhat surprisingly, a man of Heineken's immense wealth is taken easily, and the first-time criminals have beginner's luck all around. However, the ransom payment is dragged out, and tensions erupt among the men.While Anthony Hopkins plays the small part of Alfred "Freddy" Heineken convincingly, when shackled in a cell, he displays familiar flashes of Hannibal Lector. Although Sam Worthington and Jim Sturgess head the kidnappers, most of the faces are lesser known, but, like Hopkins, all acquit themselves nicely. The film is better than average, and, with a fairly short running time, introduces viewers unfamiliar with the crime to some of the details, despite accusations of inaccuracy. "The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken" moves fast, is worth a look, and will keep most viewers entertained.