Ransom (1996)

Although not being the biggest fan of Mel Gibson (don't dislike him either), 'Ransom' did seem like it had an interesting story going for it, Ron Howard has done his fair share of good films and Gary Sinese has done work that is worth admiration.'Ransom' is a long way from flawless and it could have been better. At the same time, it is an entertaining and tense film as well as very well played. 'Ransom' is a film that starts off very well, even if a few things could have been done better, but loses steam towards the end. Like some people here, was really not crazy about the ending which reeked of studio interference. It was wildly improbable and the way everything was resolved was anti-climactic and overwrought.The secondary characters could have been better written. For the early reveal of the mastermind kidnapper to properly work, the kidnappers needed to be developed well. Other than Shaker the rest of the gang are very thinly sketched, well performed but one knows very little about them. There is very little to Sean too, making it difficult to sympathise with his dire situation. Tom's motives and reasons for such drastic decision making could have been clearer at times.Lastly, while the back and forth between Mel Gibson and Gary Sinese was essentially the film's driving force and very effectively executed in giving some great tension, the reveal of who was behind it all felt like it was revealed too early, not having it done later diluted the suspense somewhat.However, Howard does do a more than competent job directing, creating very nice visuals, good sense of mood and high levels of tension, although the more action-oriented parts felt too stagy and overblown. 'Ransom' was clearly made with a lot of skill, everything looking super slick and atmospheric.James Horner's score has some beautiful moments as well as some haunting ones, though to me he did do better scores. The script flows well and delivers on the tension, shining especially in the back and forth between Tom and Shaker. The story is taut and twisty, only unravelling in plausibility at the end, the big twist handled more than adequately. One really connects with what Tom and Kate are going through in one of the worst things that can happen to anybody.Gibson is a very commanding lead, and while she is somewhat wasted with an underwritten character Rene Russo does do a very good job with what she's given. The supporting cast are all good, with standouts being Delroy Lindo, Donnie Wahlberg and Lillie Taylor. Best of all, and other than the back and forth between him and Gibson the best thing about 'Ransom' is Sinese, who sends chills up the spine while adding a few wry twists to his characters in some of his best work he's done.In conclusion, above average, tense and entertaining thriller, but falls a little short. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I've seen a lot of ransom films so I thought this one with its generic vanilla-name "Ransom" would be the most generic of them all. To my surprise it wasn't generic at all.In most ransom films the criminals are evil, the good guys are innocent and the police/FBI are there to help. It really is good-vs-evil, black and white. In most ransom films the victim's family are just that victims, while the police/FBI agents are the ones that save the day. Sometimes the hostage's family try things their own way, almost ruining the whole thing with their emotional stupidity. The family is just there to get in the way of the FBI. Really, it's just a show about the FBI in most films.But this isn't most films.The family is not some completely innocent family for our good-vs-evil story. The dad runs a shady business and is being investigated by the FBI. The cops? One of the cops is part of the gang of captors himself. Instead of the family messing up we have the FBI messing up by shooting and killing one of the captors at a money drop. Instead of the family crying on TV, pleading with the captors for mercy we have them going on national television offering a price on the head of the captors. I'm pretty sure that's illegal and any network would cut to commercials rather than risk liability, but it was cool as hell. He lays down the cash on the table, 2 million dollars as reward, and leverages the power of the people, the country with the most armed populace in the world, against the kidnappers.There are so many ways this could go wrong (people killing any random dad with any random kid and calling for the reward), but I can suspend my disbelief for an original idea.I rate this film 7.7/10, a star above its current rating on IMDb.

I watched this movie first when it came out and I was only about 11 years old or so. So I decided to give it a watch nearly ten years later and I loved it even more. Its not a very original idea and it has been done before but the writing and the great performance by Mel Gibson make this far superior to most of the movies with this subject.This movie is about a well off boss of an airline who while at the park with his family one day has his son kidnapped. The kidnappers ask for a two million dollars ransom. The father is going to pay without any questions until he starts thinking that once he pays they will kill his son so he comes up with a back up plan.This is a really good thriller and another great movie from Gibson. I have always been a Gibson fan and I only wish he made more movies these days.

Ron Howard and Mel Gibson have a thing in common. Unreliability of excellence. Both have done exceptional work, but some of it not so. This is ironically a meeting of those inconsistencies in a movie that is not the best or the worst of either. The blending of the two talented, if spotty, mega-stars ends up being a glaring case of highlighted mediocrity not superiority.The overacting and totally unbelievable Gibson uses many mannerisms of his earlier films and seems unable to play any emotion except righteous indignation, and that he does well. But here he is called upon to emote and react with heartfelt feelings that come off as hammy and borderline horrendous. His best scenes are in the car and on the phone and with the bad guys and the worst are with his wife and child and his over reactions with the FBI and police.The Director gives this a good try but again, he seems glaringly out of his element. The action scenes are well done but the suspense and the rhythm of the film seems craggy and out of step. Since then he has honed his abilities and stylish beats and does much better in recent years. But here he is not quite with it when it comes to this type of thing.The bad guys scenes work much better than the family situations both with the kid and with law enforcement types. The plot is overly complex with muddled motivations but moves along quickly enough to make this nothing more than an average feeling man's action movie that has too much fake feeling and not enough edgy action.