Lots of good things about this movie - the location shooting the performance of Russell Crowe in the lead, the interesting "world" of kidnapping and ransom (remember the good old days when Latin America, not the Middle East, was the kidnapping capital of the world?), David Caruso's lively support performance.
Meg Ryan kind of wrecks it. She throws the movie off balance, not just with her uninspiring performance but also her sheer star quality. She's a good actor but feels too light weight and all wrong for what is basically the Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca role. You didn't need Meg Ryan you just needed someone attractive, who lusted after Crowe nobly, while the focus was on Crowe trying to get huer husband back.
Meg Ryan's casting pulls focus - you're drawn to her, which is actually a mistake dramatically because the character is so passive. All she does is lie to a politician - the rest of the time she makes cups of tea and hangs around Crowe.
The film flounders in some other spots it should be strong - like the opening sequence of Russell kicking arse (intercut with him talking about it thus robbing the piece of suspense) and the sequence of Morse being kidnapped. I also hate it how they got Morse to be tough and yell at his kidnappers BECAUSE HE'S AN AMERICAN - why didn't they just play it truthfully, in that you'd suck up and be nice.
So a flawed film. But like all movies written by Tony Gilroy, worth watching. Russell Crowe is very well cast and has a great last scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment