Hostage

Review by: Grant

Just Another Good Guy vs. Bad Guys
Hostage is one of those movies you don’t regret having gone to but one you probably wouldn’t watch a second time if you came across it while flipping channels.

The movie stars Bruce Willis as Jeff Talley, a veteran LAPD hostage negotiator. After a seemingly routine negotiation take a disastrous turn, Talley ends up with blood on his hands (both figuratively and literally) and decides he’s seen enough violence for one man’s lifetime. He takes a job as sheriff in a quiet, peaceful community in northern California.

Talley’s newfound peace and quiet is short-lived, however, when, on “low crime Tuesday”, three hoodlums trail a rich man and his two children back to their mansion in the hills where they plan to steal the man’s Cadillac Escalade. And they might have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for the man’s pesky young son who triggers the silent alarm.

You can pretty much guess what happens next: A deputy is dispatched, finds the hoodlums’ stolen abandoned truck parked outside the house, and radios for backup. Busted, the thieves realize they no longer have anything to gain by playing it safe and erupt in a display of violence that leaves the dispatched deputy dead and the rich man severely beaten. And just like that Talley is thrust back into the role of hostage negotiator.

Out of respect for my readers who have not yet seen the movie, I have left out some elements of the plot and I will refrain from revealing any more.

Suffice it to say the movie delivers inasmuch as it is entertaining. Willis turns in his usual solid performance, portraying Talley as a genuine hero—not a caricature of one. And Ben Foster, as the sociopath Mars, does the same. Really at not point in the movie, save for a few points of contention regarding the air ducts, did I have to suspend my understanding of reality to find the story credible. If you’ve got $7.00 and two hours to spare, and Ice Princess seem too . . . well . . . Ice Princess-y for you, Hostage just might be your ticket.

GRANT = “to see”

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