A movie like "Ransom" is so preposterous and unbelievable it could only be made by a person like Ron Howard. From Opie, to "Happy Days", to producing and directing, Ron Howard has spent his entire life in a Hollywood bubble, shielded from reality, so when he tries to make a gritty, realistic movie, it comes out like this. The only thing that raises "Ransom" from a direct-to-DVD release starring Steven Seagal is the acting (Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise) and the budget. The rest is crap, not to mention it runs on for far too long.
The story is a straightforward kidnapping tale and I'm sure the rest of the reviews here at IMDb have covered the basics. I'll cover the hallucinatory parts that Ron Howard thinks are real:
1) Gibson plays the owner of the fourth largest airline in the US. Yet, he takes Sunday off with his wife and son to hang out at the NY City Kids Science Fair, without security or an entourage. The idea that a guy who is busy running an airline he built himself would take an entire day off to waltz around a science fair with only his wife and kid is idiotic enough, but to do so without security and assistants, etc... takes this into the realm of fantasy.
2) Gibson and his family went through an excruciating three month FBI investigation where Gibson's character was investigated for bribing a union official. Gibson confesses to the lead FBI agent covering the kidnapping that he is, in fact, guilty of the bribe and that he lied to cover it up. At the end of movie Gibson should be in jail, but the career FBI officer doesn't do anything with the information except tell Gibson's wife.
3) Gibson's character ignores his kid at the science fair, which enables the kidnappers to grab the kid. Gibson lied to his wife about paying the bribe and put the entire family through a hellish FBI investigation. Now, Gibson refuses to pay the ransom, and seemingly places his kid in danger when everyone else is telling him to pay it. In the real world, this would cause a lot of marital problems, and might in fact lead to a divorce since Gibson has lied to wife about some serious issues and placed their child in extreme danger. Of course, its a happy family at the end.
3) Gibson's wife only has $500,000 to her name despite being married to a billionaire for 20 years.
4) Gibson goes on TV and offers a two million dollar bounty on the kidnappers which he later raises to four million. Now in the real world, this reason this doesn't happen is because its against the law to offer money for someone's death. Again, the moment after he made those threats, Gibson should be in jail. In Ron Howard land, nothing happens.
5) The kidnapper, who is smart enough to plan and pull off the kidnapping, is stupid enough at the end of the movie to walk into Gibson's home to collect the reward, despite knowing that Gibson's kid would recognize him since the kid has heard his voice. 'Nuff said, this movie was garbage.
The story is a straightforward kidnapping tale and I'm sure the rest of the reviews here at IMDb have covered the basics. I'll cover the hallucinatory parts that Ron Howard thinks are real:
1) Gibson plays the owner of the fourth largest airline in the US. Yet, he takes Sunday off with his wife and son to hang out at the NY City Kids Science Fair, without security or an entourage. The idea that a guy who is busy running an airline he built himself would take an entire day off to waltz around a science fair with only his wife and kid is idiotic enough, but to do so without security and assistants, etc... takes this into the realm of fantasy.
2) Gibson and his family went through an excruciating three month FBI investigation where Gibson's character was investigated for bribing a union official. Gibson confesses to the lead FBI agent covering the kidnapping that he is, in fact, guilty of the bribe and that he lied to cover it up. At the end of movie Gibson should be in jail, but the career FBI officer doesn't do anything with the information except tell Gibson's wife.
3) Gibson's character ignores his kid at the science fair, which enables the kidnappers to grab the kid. Gibson lied to his wife about paying the bribe and put the entire family through a hellish FBI investigation. Now, Gibson refuses to pay the ransom, and seemingly places his kid in danger when everyone else is telling him to pay it. In the real world, this would cause a lot of marital problems, and might in fact lead to a divorce since Gibson has lied to wife about some serious issues and placed their child in extreme danger. Of course, its a happy family at the end.
3) Gibson's wife only has $500,000 to her name despite being married to a billionaire for 20 years.
4) Gibson goes on TV and offers a two million dollar bounty on the kidnappers which he later raises to four million. Now in the real world, this reason this doesn't happen is because its against the law to offer money for someone's death. Again, the moment after he made those threats, Gibson should be in jail. In Ron Howard land, nothing happens.
5) The kidnapper, who is smart enough to plan and pull off the kidnapping, is stupid enough at the end of the movie to walk into Gibson's home to collect the reward, despite knowing that Gibson's kid would recognize him since the kid has heard his voice. 'Nuff said, this movie was garbage.