| Watch your step -- Plot holes ahead! |
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| written by TnJWilson |
August 1, 2005 - 9:46 AM PDT |
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1 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| Poor editing (just doesn't flow) and countless plot holes made me glad I hadn't paid to see this in the theatre, but angry that I wasted a spot on my queue. This would be good to watch late at night when there is nothing else on TV but informercials and your mind is only half concious anyway. Sorry, Bruce, but this isn't Die Hard! |
| Smart Action |
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| written by talltale |
June 6, 2005 - 8:31 PM PDT |
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3 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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Clearly, American is not ready for intelligent action movies, as proven by the tepid response to HOSTAGE. French director Florent Siri (of the fabulous "The Nest") shows he can work as well on foreign (read Hollywood) soil without--wonder of wonders--soiling himself.
Siri seems to prefer threesomes over twosomes, in terms of good guys v. bad guys v. bad guys. He's right: this makes for infinitely more interesting, convoluted, pay-attention-please movies (the latter being something mainstream America seems less and less able to manage). Here, the set-up is wonderful and it keeps expanding into a more problematic, surprising and scary situation. Siri and his writer so carefully set up each incident that eventually the movie locks into an almost foolproof plot. Just watch the scene in which Willis is handcuffed to the steering wheel of his car: this is quiet, tense, carefully thought-out moviemaking--with a terrific payoff. Stuff like this is what a really good action thriller is all about, yet we have damn little of it anymore.
If the ending (as is too often the case) falls down a bit, the other hour and a half is first-rate. The casting's special, too: these look like real people who can act rather than the usual intellectually challenged (but pumped- or siliconed-up) juveniles and ingénues. And watch for a splendid visual in-joke about Hollywood remakes that also pushes the plot ahead another notch. Umm, umm, good! |
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