HOSTAGE by Florent Emilio Siri
Jeff Talley (Bruce Willis – in good form again), hostage negotiator, turns small-town police chief after failing a negotiation and losing a family.
When three local punks – formal leader of the gang Dennis (Jonathan Tucker; despicable but still human), his little brother Kevin (Marshall Allman – reluctant follower) and factual leader Mars (Ben Foster; ruthless, worthless, sadistic scum) try to dispossess mafia accountant Walter Smith (Kevin Pollak) of his shiny new car, everything goes wrong, and suddenly a police officer is dead, and the juvenile delinquents hold Walter, daughter Jennifer (Michelle Horn) and son Tommy (Jimmy Bennet – runner-up for ‘least annoying kid of the year’) hostage in Walter’s fortress-like mansion.
Talley hands over the case to the responsible superior authority, but then Walter Smith’s principals want their accounts data – and they ‘persuade’ Jeff Tally to get them – with substantial arguments …
With this movie, Bruce Willis comes back to form and proves to be the last action hero (Arnold is running California now, Stallones last decent action movie is already history, and Jean-Claude van Damme and Steven Seagal’s movies go straight to video since ages).
You could dismiss it as ‘Die Hard 4 (or 5)’, but it ain’t – it’s much more violent and less humorous than ‘Die Hard’ – and no funny one-liners here. The symbolism and moralism (‘drugs will make you a crazy killer’, ‘wearing provocative clothes will get you in trouble’) may be overdone, but the movie’s a real ride.
You will want to kick out Mars’ and Dennis’ teeth because they are such a bunch of mean, dumb and downright evil scum, and if you want to take a philosphical view at the movie, you will wonder what’s more frightening:
The pointless, stupid brutality of useless punks like Mars and Dennis that can strike everybody just because you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or the professional, business-like attitude of the mafia-types, who will put away anybody who comes between them and their money.
