Movie Review - Ransom

Ransom (1996)

Starring Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Brawley Nolte, Gary Sinise, Delroy Lindo, Lili Taylor, Donnie Wahlberg, and Liev Schrieber

Directed by Ron Howard

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Not that the trailer for Ransom in and of itself is all that amazing, but in 1996, Mel Gibson's uttering of the film's somewhat classic line, "Give me back my son!", was played seemingly ad nauseum in theaters and on tv.  It's a simple line, but in that one line reading from Mel, the primal, guttural instinct of a parent who has had a child kidnapped shines through and Gibson shows why everyone loved him prior to his late aughts breakdown.  As far as the film goes, despite it's completely generic nature and its by-the-book direction from Ron Howard, Ransom does the job required of it, continuously ratcheting up the tension until the rather silly, although plausible climax.

There's no need to go into any plot summaries here as the film doesn't deviate from any standard kidnapping flick.  Rich parents get their son kidnapped and the abductors demand a significant ransom for the return of the child.  Sure, there are slight turns along the way, but there's absolutely nothing new brought to the table either by the writers or by the director.  

Nevertheless, the film does exactly what it needs to do in order to be entertaining.  In part, all the actors really step up to the plate.  From Gibson and Rene Russo as the distraught parents to Delroy Lindo as the FBI agent helping to track down the kidnapper to Gary Sinise as a troubled cop, the acting lifts up all the generic roles to a degree higher than what they likely deserved.

Yes, I find myself criticizing the film above, but I also was thoroughly entertained throughout Ransom.  I'd seen this upon its release and remembered liking it back then and wasn't disappointed upon the rewatch.

On a completely unrelated note, I find it quite odd that I've now watched two kidnapping movies in the span of four days...slightly odd how that happened.

And on another completely unrelated note (one that I've said before), I miss Mr. Gibson as an actor.  

The RyMickey Rating:  B