''Hostage'' is a 2005 American action thriller film produced by and starring Bruce Willis and directed by

Florent Emilio Siri Florent-Emilio Siri (born 2 March 1965) is a French film director and screenwriter born in Lorraine. Siri studied cinema at the Sorbonne University and ESRA in Paris. Siri is a music video director. He has worked with such bands as IAM, Alli ...

. The film was based on the 2001 novel of the same name by

Robert Crais Robert Crais (pronounced ) (born June 20, 1953) is an American author of detective fiction. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as '' Hill Street Blues'', '' Cagney & Lacey'', '' Quincy'', '' Miami Vice'' and '' L.A. ...

, and was adapted for the screen by Doug Richardson. The film earned negative reviews from critics and was not a financial success, grossing $77 million against its $75 million budget.

Plot

Former L.A. SWAT officer Jeff Talley is a hostage negotiator in Los Angeles. One day, Talley negotiates with an abusive man who has taken his own wife and son hostage after learning his wife was cheating on him. Shortly after Talley denies a SWAT commander's request to give snipers the order to open fire, the despondent husband kills his wife, son, and himself. Traumatized, Talley moves with his family and becomes police chief in Bristo Camino, a suburban hamlet in nearby Ventura County. A year later, Talley finds himself in another hostage situation. Two teenagers, Dennis Kelly and his brother Kevin, and their accomplice Marshall "Mars" Krupcheck take hostage Walter Smith and his two children, teenage Jennifer and young Tommy, in Smith's house after a failed robbery attempt. The first officer to respond is shot twice by Mars just before Talley arrives. Talley attempts to rescue the officer, but she dies in front of him. Traumatized and unwilling to put himself through another tragedy, Talley hands authority over to the

Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Office (VCSO), also sometimes known as the Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD), provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California as well as several cities within the county. ...

and leaves. Smith has been

laundering money Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

for a mysterious criminal syndicate through offshore shell corporations. He was preparing to turn over a batch of important encrypted files recorded on a DVD when he was taken hostage. To prevent the incriminating evidence from being discovered, the syndicate orders someone known only as the Watchman to kidnap Talley's wife and daughter. Talley is instructed to return to the hostage scene, regain authority, and stall for time until the organization can launch its own attack against Smith's house. Dennis forces Kevin and Mars to tie up the children, while he knocks out Smith and finds a large amount of cash. In an attempt to end the standoff and secure the DVDs himself, Talley meets with Dennis and agrees to provide a helicopter in exchange for half of the money. When the helicopter arrives, Dennis and Kevin bring the money to Talley and prepare to leave, but Mars refuses to leave without Jennifer, with whom he has become infatuated. Talley says the helicopter will only carry three additional people and insists that Jennifer stay behind, but the deal breaks down and the boys return to the house. Talley learns that Mars is a psychopathic killer who could turn on the hostages and his own accomplices at any moment. Mars does, in fact, kill Dennis and Kevin, just as Kevin is about to release the children. The syndicate sends fake FBI agents to recover the DVD and they storm the house; Talley is instructed to not go near the house. Jennifer stabs Mars and locks herself and Tommy in the panic room. Hearing their screams, Talley breaches the house and is attacked by Mars, who then kills most of the fake agents using his pistol and multiple Molotov cocktails. Mars is then shot in the side by the only surviving agent. The agent tracks down Talley and the children, and demands the encrypted DVD. After Talley gives him the DVD, Mars reappears, distracting the agent long enough to be killed by Talley. Mars then prepares to throw his last Molotov, but collapses to his knees, weakened by his injuries. He makes eye contact with Jennifer, then drops the Molotov and immolates himself. Talley escapes with the children by shooting the indoor glass waterfall, which extinguishes the fire. He and a recovered Smith then go to a rundown inn where Talley's wife and daughter are being held captive by the Watchman and his crew. Smith, feigning hatred for Talley, is freed in exchange for the family. While demanding that the Watchman kill Talley, Smith shoots the Watchman. This allows Talley to kill the other gunmen and rescue his family.

Cast

* Bruce Willis as Police Chief Jeff Talley * Kevin Pollak as Walter Smith * Jimmy Bennett as Tommy Smith * Michelle Horn as Jennifer Smith * Ben Foster as Marshall "Mars" Krupcheck * Jonathan Tucker as Dennis Kelly * Marshall Allman as Kevin Kelly * Serena Scott Thomas as Jane Talley * Rumer Willis as Amanda Talley * Kim Coates as The Watchman / Glen Howell * Robert Knepper as Wil Bechler * Tina Lifford as Deputy Sheriff Laura Shoemaker * Ransford Doherty as Officer Mike Anders * Marjean Holden as Officer Carol Flores * Michael D. Roberts as Bob Ridley, Paramedic * Art LaFleur as Officer Bill Jorgenson * Keith Hines as Simmons * Randy McPherson as Kovak *

Hector Luis Bustamante Héctor Luis Bustamante (born March 12, 1972) is a Colombian-American actor. He is best known for his emotionally-charged performance as Pedro Vera in the 2008 original LMN movie '' Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story''. He current stars i ...

as Officer Ruiz * Kathryn Joosten as Officer Louise * Johnny Messner as Mr. Jones * Glenn Morshower as Lieutenant Leifitz * Jamie McShane as Joe Mack *

Jimmy Pinchak Jimmy Jax Pinchak (born James Justin Pinchak; February 16, 1996) is an American former actor and musician. Life and career Born James Justin Pinchak, he grew up in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. He acted the movements for "Know-It-All" in the co ...

as Sean Mack

Production

The film's plot is roughly the same as Crais's novel. The main difference is that the novel's complicated subplot involving powerful

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

Mafia crime lord Sonny Benza was removed, with the film giving little explanation of Walter Smith's criminal associates. The film also makes the first group of hostage-takers somewhat younger in age than depicted in the novel. In addition, the criminal syndicate in the film were portrayed as mysterious criminals rather than a regular Mafia. Filming took place in the Malibu area (in western

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

). The exterior views of Smith's lavishly appointed house were filmed at a real house in the unincorporated Topanga Canyon area, between Malibu and Los Angeles; the interior scenes were done on sound stages in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. The character Mars, played by Ben Foster, was modeled after

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

rap artist Mars by Robert Crais after a friend Dennis Bsharah urged him to look into the horrorcore genre. In the movie adaptation, Foster strongly resembles the rapper. Jonathan Tucker's name was later changed to Dennis. The movie's opening scenes were filmed in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, just east of downtown. The fictional city of Bristo Camino was possibly intended to be a representation of Ojai or Moorpark. Bristo Bay is the name of Bristo Camino in the 2001

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

''.

Release

Home media

''Hostage'' was released on DVD & VHS June 21, 2005.

Reception

Box office

The film earned $34.6 million at the United States box office and a total worldwide gross of $77.6 million. It made $9.8 million from 2,123 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing fourth.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 35% based on 158 reviews, with an average rating of 5.08/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Grisly and cliched, audiences may feel they're being held ''Hostage''." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film three stars out of four, writing: "In scenes where a hero must outgun four or five armed opponents, however, ''Hostage'' does use the reliable action movie technique of cutting from one target to the next, so that we never see what the others are doing while the first ones are being shot. Waiting for their closeups, I suppose."Ebert, Roger (2005-03-11)
Thrills hold Willis 'Hostage'

References

External links

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Filming Locations
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hostage (Film) 2005 films 2005 action thriller films 2005 crime thriller films 2005 drama films 2000s action drama films 2000s American films 2000s crime action films 2000s crime drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s German films American action drama films American action thriller films American crime action films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American neo-noir films English-language German films Films about kidnapping Films about arson Films about death Films about families Films about hostage takings Films about siblings Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films set in California Films scored by Alexandre Desplat German action thriller films German crime drama films German crime thriller films German thriller drama films Home invasions in film