Hey folks, Harry here with more discouraging word on Bruce's HOSTAGE - a film by the director of NID DE GUEPES - a French action fave of mine. Unfortunately it doesn't always translate. Fub suggests you go see ONG BAK instead, and I concur. Support the single most exciting and thrilling action performer in at least 15 years. Tony Jaa will own you!
Hey Harry & Co,
Fub here, with my (yearly, it seems) review of an upcoming flick...
Caught a preview screening of Hostage, the supposed 'return-to-form' action vehicle for Mr. Bruce Willis, here in Boston earlier this week. Since Die Hard is easily among my favorite straight-up-action films, I had a sliver of hope that this movie could be a solid diversion, if not necessarily an original one.
The swooping, animated cityscape of the opening title sequence had me thinking they'd swapped out the screening for a sneak of Sin City (don't I wish)... all blacks and whites, and blood red skies. It kinda looked liked a cutscene sequence from a Hostage video game, which would no doubt be more enjoyable than the film itself. Hell, I'd play it. (Ah ha... a little clicking reveals that the director of Hostage, Florent Emilio Siri, actually helmed two Splinter Cell games. There ya go.)
Based on a Robert Crais novel, Willis plays Jeff Talley, an L.A. hostage negotiator who takes a small-town police chief position after a negotiations falls apart. You know the drill, even if you haven't seen the trailer... the slo-mo tragedy of this opening is a simple set up for an eventual shot at redemption. It cruises through this obiligatory intro, straight into the "why did we have to move here?" family squabble (using his real-life daughter, Rumor, who has a small, whiny part, and the unfortunate combination of Bruce's huge oval head and Demi's small-ish facial features), and then the "we're in a small town and things are so simple" police station scene, but without any real emotion... there's no connection made to any of the supporting cast, which would have ratcheted up the drama later on. It all seems so painfully paint-by-numbers.
The score was so over-the-top, the sound mix so bombastic, and the story so overwrought, it would have been comical if it wasn't so damn deadly dull. It lacked the energy and pace of a Die Hard film, was entirely devoid of humor, relying far too much on Bruce's furrowed brow, and on Ben Foster's sulking, gothy character for menace. Six Feet Under fans know Foster well... here he pretty much plays a murderous riff on broody art-student Russell, but there's no real motivation revealed, just an offhand line about losing his parents or something. There's one unintentionally hilarious slow-motion shot of him framed by flames, and I swear he looks like the star of the next direct-to-video Crow film. The filmmakers also constantly and creepily milk the threat of underage sexual assault, with lots of shots of freaky Foster leering at his tied-up teenage hostage and her peek-a-boo thong.
And the violence... so much of it was unnecessary, all blood-spurting headshots, live burning bodies, and a particularly brutal knife to the mouth. I know, that just guaranteed that a whole bunch of talkbackers will go check this out. Hey, I'm game for some gore, but this movie uses it so sloppily, and all too gratuitously. It even pulls the cheapest trick in the book (the villians are so evil they kill puppies!). With a better supporting cast, a tighter script, and sharper direction, these moments of shock could easily have come from situations instead of upside-your-head violence. The movie's premise actually provides a solid enough framework, but the screenwriter and director fail to fill it in. There's no rhythm, no build-up, and so no real pay-off.
I've heard good things about Robert Crais' novels, and I'm really curious to hear from fans of this book after they see the film... did Hollywood screw this up? Was it all down to the editing and directing choices, or was the source material this ham-fisted?
If you're in the mood for some big-screen action, skip this sucker and check out Ong-Bak. And if you're hankering for some classic Bruce, turn on your television. Somewhere, on some random cable channel, Die Hard is probably on.
Oh, and Harry... diggin' the site redesign, naysayers be damned. It was long overdue.
best,
-Fub
