A Kidnapping Gone Bad. Review on Ransom

I'm surprised that no one reviewed this very good movie ''Ransom''. The movie's plot is excellent, and the action scenes are pretty good. I was lucky to find this movie on Wednesday at the Library. And after watching it again I still enjoyed it, I'd seen this movie some years ago on HBO cable TV. The electrifying, and suspenseful moments is what makes this movie great.

In this movie a rich entrepreneur of an airplane company becomes the target of revenge when his son is kidnapped. But the price of the ransom takes a different twist in this movie when the kidnappers are confronted with the unexpected. Ransom was released in 1996, Ron Howard directed this movie, and Cyril Hume, and Richard Maibaum wrote the script for this movie. The Running time for this movie is 121 minutes.

The story

Tom (Mel Gibson, Signs 2002), and Kate (In the Line of Fire, 1993) Mullen are the proud, and happy parents of Sean (Affection, 1997) Mullen. Tom Mullen is a rich entrepreneur of his own airline company. It is the annual science fair in time square New York. Little Sean is a participant, he is left alone after entering his science project in the science fair. Sean is being watched, and suddenly kidnapped by a group of men. After a painful search for their son Kate, and Tom go home, and get an alarming email, and call from the kidnappers warning them of the death of their son unless a two million dollar ransom is paid.

When Tom makes his attempt to pay the ransom things go wrong, there's unexpected intervention from the police which leads to the death of a kidnapper, and undercover cop. We later find out that the culprit and main kidnapper will be a surprise to us all. We also find out that Tom Mullen is the target of revenge as a result of a bribe he paid off to the Union causing a man to be imprisoned.

Things also change with the ransom payment. The timeless return of Tom's son becomes frustrating to him. Tom now choses to use the ransom for a bounty payment for the capture of the kidnappers. He later increases the payment to four million dollars. Well, the story goes on when our surprise culprit, and kidnapper continues every method he knows to get the money he later reveals the where abouts of little Sean when he stages a shoot out killing the kidnappers that joined him in his quest when kidnapping Sean. Will the rotten plan work for our surprise kidnapper? Will little Sean return home safety? What happens to our surprise kidnapper? who is he? and will he get the money? you'll find out what happens when you purchase this outstanding movie.

Final Thoughts on Ransom

As you can see this is indeed a very good, and suspenseful drama. Mel Gibson, and Rene Russo provide excellent performances in this movie. I found the kidnapping scenes of the little boy depressing, and very realistic as he remained chained to a bed, grabbed, and pulled with force, his eyes, and mouth are bound with duct tape. While Brawley Nolte's role as little Sean Mullen was a quiet and faint one, I still found his performances very touching. His portrayal of innocence is very appealing, and moving especially when he finally sees his kidnapper again.

As for the casting and direction Ron Howard does an excellent job with the action scenes in this movie, the shoot outs, and the kidnapper's final showdown with the police is most heart braking. The dramatic effects, and sequence of the script is almost perfect it leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat. Overall ''Ransom'' is an excellent suspenseful drama that you'll enjoy.