Thanks for the memories!

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

A rare Bruce Willis movie that I have never seen.Willis plays a ex hostage negotiator burnt out from failing his last case. Now he's a chief of police in some small hick town where crime does not happen. So guess what happens? crime. Three rowdy ruff boys (One played by a younger Ben Foster), get flip the bird by a rich chick and of course they can't let that go and end up taking her and her family hostage, in what turned out to be the most dramatic gun fight I've seen, and now I'm totally invested in watching this movie, which is worth it when it turns they pick the wrong family to mess with, and Willis has to get his head back into the game to get it all under control.The movie is cleaver in it's delivery. Trying not to fall into the heroic clichés we see in movies. Bruce Willis plays a man completely dedicated to his family and not the job, but unfortunately the job is dedicated to him, and as such, twist and turns within the film keep pulling him back into the mix just when he was close to getting out.This is a really good Bruce Willis movie too. Not really what you expect and yet everything you need from Bruce Willis. Lots of Drama and suspense and very action packed. Some of the action is a little corny as it goes over the top, but still it does the trick. Bruce gets to play a dramatic role as he goes crazy trying to get the job done because as the movie progress he has more invested in the whole thing.Very surprise that I've never seen this one before, it's actually a really good picture.http://cinemagardens.com

Jeff Talley (Bruce Willis) is a former LAPD hostage negotiator. After a particularly brutal incident, he leaves L.A. to be the chief of police in the small suburb of Bristo Camino. Some time later, Dennis and his brother Kevin, and their vicious cohort Mars Krupcheck break into the Smith home. They are challenged by a cop and shots her. They lock down the highly secured home taking Walter Smith (Kevin Pollak) and his two kids hostage. However other interests intervene. Walter actually does work for a mysterious criminal gang and they want a DVD from inside the house. The criminals take Talley's family hostage forcing him to work outside the law to find the DVD and trade it for his family.This is a functional thriller. The main thing that bugged me are the three young thugs. They are too stereotypical. They're greasy and jittery. It's too on-the-nose. I like that the movie takes a simple premise and puts a slightly different spin on it. It's too bad that Kevin Pollak doesn't have a bigger role. This movie seems geared towards his wheelhouse. Bruce Willis is usually good in this type of roles. This is a relatively fine thriller but it's nothing special.

This movie was the most riveting of his. I purchased the DVD a month ago for the bargain at Wmart being an older movie now in December 2013. You could not fall asleep as tired as I was. This movie is edge of the seat throughout. I cannot believe this is not higher than 3 out of 5 stars overall. I gave it 10 stars for this. Admit it is a little high on some fake dynamics/theatrics, but was a movie one can watch 10 times over. Such as when one of the characters(Mars) burns himself to death with a Molotov Cocktail was just a little unrealistic but is good for cinema. This movie could easily be a true story based type plot without the higher end drama scenes. It was very high on realism otherwise and shows the immaturity of the younger would be car thief's who screw up their day because of poor/rash decisions.

I recently wrote a review on 'Hostage' for an English assessment. Here's the finished product.Hostage is a crime thriller released in 2005. The movie is directed by Florent-Emilio Siri and is an adaptation of Robert Crais's novel. The main star is Bruce Willis accompanied by Kevin Pollack, Jimmy Bennett, Michelle Horn, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker and Marshall Allman. Each character is so unique and portrayed in a very believable manner, with the coarse language heightening the intensity of the situation. Foreshadowing has been written into the plot and allows for many twists and turns that leave you taken aback.Los Angeles LAPD negotiator Jeff Talley (Willis), is shattered by an unsuccessful hostage situation which results in him taking a job as Chief of Police in a small town in California with a low crime rate, however the past has come back to haunt him as three delinquent teenagers take a family hostage, only intending to steal their car. What the three young teenagers do not realize is that they are walking into a much larger situation that they definitely have not planned for. The youngest of the three, Kevin(Allman) is the one being dragged into it all; he does not want to take any part in it but his older brother Dennis (Tucker) gets him to do his dirty work while he figures out a plan to get them all out of this situation with a little extra cash on the side. The menacing character that is Mars (Foster) and his unpredictable nature leads to events that quickly spiral out of control. As the hostage situation progresses into the night, things turn for the worse for Chief Talley which is certainly not expected.The film score for Hostage is created by Alexandre Desplat featuring the London Symphony Orchestra. There is a feeling of eerie suspense which is done by using discordant strings, piano, guitar, recorder, electronic cello and his daughter's haunting vocals which occur throughout the film. Since the majority of the film is shot at night, Florent- Emilio Siri uses backlighting and shadowing which creates very atmospheric scenes. The extreme long shot used when the three teenagers are following the family home emphasizes just how secluded the location is. Close up shots intensify the emotions and reactions of the characters while the full shots allow us viewers to read the characters body language. One of the main special effects they use for this film is flames for the raging fire. Costumes and make-up are made to portray very believable characters. The blood, the bloodied clothes, the sweat and tears and the police uniforms convey a sense of reality.Since Florent- Emilio Siri has only directed five other projects (one being a video game) which are all in French it is hard to compare Hostage to them, although Doug Richardson who wrote the screenplay for Hostage has worked with Bruce Willis before. Looking at Doug's filmography it clearly shows that he likes to work on Action/Thriller and Action/Comedy movies. Some movies similar to Hostage in the way that the main character/s is held captive are Firewall, The Call, Red Eye and Disturbia. Florent and his team of directors, writers and actors are very successful with this movie; it is extremely difficult to find any fault with it. Thriller fans everywhere must think along the same lines since it has accumulated over $77 million.Hostage is a dark, intense, edge of your seat thriller that will leave you guessing till the very end. The cast is outstanding, the plot is original and is just downright one of Bruce Willis's best performances. This movie is recommended to movie-goers aged 15 or over, thriller fans or not, who will appreciate what this dark drama has to offer. The rating this movie is going to receive is 5 stars. This is a must see!