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Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is chief of security at a bank which is considering a merger with a large conglomerate.
He meets with Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), a businessman who right after the cocktail encounter waylays Jack into a kidnapping binge that turns Jack's plush seaside home into kidnappers' headquarters. The Stanfields--wife Beth (Virginia Madsen) Beth (Virginia Madsen), daughter Sarah (Carly Schroeder), and son Andrew (Jimmy Bennett)--become hostages as Bill and his bunch demand $100 million from Jack. In exchange for the Stanfields' life, Bill forces Jack to do electronic robbery--transferring funds by computer from Jack's bank.
The story is quite predictable for one in its genre, but still manages to keep the tension through its 105-minute run.
The pace is just right, and the editing, good. Action is plentiful, though Ford tends to look pathetic slugging it out with a much younger villain. It could be
intentional, if he's cast as an aging banker married to a much younger woman (Madsen is 20 years younger); otherwise they could have chosen a younger male lead.
Bettany as chief villain plays his role so well you'd say in the end he deserves what he gets. Madsen and the kids also do a good job making their characters credible. All in all, it has all the right ingredients of a good thriller, and it's still worth seeing even if it's not a memorable one.
The dilemma rests on Jack Stanfield's shoulder, and it's worth pondering by families. How far should the head of the
family go, consenting to do evil in order to save his loved ones?
How many and how great are the risks he should take in engaging the kidnappers in psychological warfare when the lives of his wife and children are in their hands? Brainteasers to toss among family members would be: What would you have done if you'd been in Jack's shoes? Would you have agreed to rob your own bank and jeopardize your future just to save your family? What other solutions would you have thought of or offered to the kidnappers? And why--really, Why?--go through all that trouble to save the family? You might get interesting answers.
(Date Reviewed: 10 February 2006)
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