''Hostage'' is a 2005 American

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

produced by and starring

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

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, Allian ...

. 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. Law ...

, and was adapted for the screen by

Doug Richardson Doug Richardson is an American screenwriter and novelist who writes action movies and thrillers. He is best known for writing movies like ''Die Hard 2'', '' Bad Boys'', and ''Hostage'' and was the first Hollywood writer to sell a spec script for ...

. 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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. 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 Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

. 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 and leaves. Smith has been laundering money for a mysterious criminal syndicate through offshore shell corporations. He was preparing to turn over a batch of important

encrypted In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can deci ...

files recorded on a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

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 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

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 ''Panic Room'' is a 2002 American thriller film directed by David Fincher. The film stars Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter whose new home is invaded by burglars, played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoaka ...

. 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 cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

s. 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

as Police Chief Jeff Talley *

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...

as Walter Smith *

Jimmy Bennett James Michael Bennett (born February 9, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as a child actor in '' Daddy Day Care'', ''Hostage'', '' The Amityville Horror'', ''Poseidon'', '' Evan Almighty'', ''Orphan'', ''Shorts'', and as yo ...

as Tommy Smith * Michelle Horn as Jennifer Smith * Ben Foster as Marshall "Mars" Krupcheck *

Jonathan Tucker Jonathan Moss Tucker (born May 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1999), '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), ''Hostage'' (2005), '' In the Valley of Elah'' (2007), '' The Ruins'' ( ...

as Dennis Kelly *

Marshall Allman Marshall Scot Allman (born April 5, 1984) is an American actor. He is known to television audiences for his role as L. J. Burrows on the Fox television series ''Prison Break''. He is also known for playing Tommy Mickens on ''True Blood''. Earl ...

as Kevin Kelly *

Serena Scott Thomas Serena Harriet Scott Thomas (born 21 September 1961) is an English actress and documentary producer. Her television roles include Diana, Princess of Wales in '' Diana: Her True Story'' in 1993. Her film appearances include ''The World Is Not Eno ...

as Jane Talley *

Rumer Willis Rumer Glenn Willis (born August 16, 1988) is an American actress. She is the eldest daughter of actor Bruce Willis and actress Demi Moore. She has appeared in films ''Hostage'' (2005), '' The House Bunny'' (2008), '' Sorority Row'' (2009) and ''O ...

as Amanda Talley *

Kim Coates Kim F. Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian–American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in the lead ...

as The Watchman / Glen Howell *

Robert Knepper Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series '' Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series '' Heroes'' ...

as Wil Bechler *

Tina Lifford Tina may refer to: People * Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia *Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

as Deputy Sheriff Laura Shoemaker * Ransford Doherty as Officer Mike Anders *

Marjean Holden Margaret Jean Holden (born November 3, 1964) is an American actress, stuntwoman and martial artist. Early life and education Margaret Jean Holden was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 3, 1964, and attended Northern Arizona Universit ...

as Officer Carol Flores *

Michael D. Roberts Michael D. Roberts is an American actor. Career Roberts played the role of "Rooster" in the 1970s television series ''Baretta''. Roberts starred in the short-lived 1983 television series ''Manimal'', appearing in five of the eight episodes whic ...

as Bob Ridley, Paramedic *

Art LaFleur Art LaFleur (September 9, 1943 – November 17, 2021) was an American character actor and acting coach. Life and career LaFleur was born in Gary, Indiana. He played football in 1962 as a redshirt at the University of Kentucky under Coach Charl ...

as Officer Bill Jorgenson * Keith Hines as Simmons * Randy McPherson as Kovak * Hector Luis Bustamante as Officer Ruiz *

Kathryn Joosten Kathryn Joosten (born Kathryn Rausch; December 20, 1939 – June 2, 2012) was an American actress. Her best known roles include Dolores Landingham on NBC's ''The West Wing'' from 1999 to 2002 and Karen McCluskey on ABC's '' Desperate Housewives ...

as Officer Louise * Johnny Messner as Mr. Jones *

Glenn Morshower Glenn Morshower is an American character actor. He is best known for playing Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce in '' 24'' and Colonel (later General) Sharp Morshower in the ''Transformers'' film series. He has also appeared in many feature fil ...

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

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

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). The exterior views of Smith's lavishly appointed house were filmed at a real house in the unincorporated

Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

area, between Malibu and Los Angeles; the interior scenes were done on sound stages in Hollywood. The character Mars, played by Ben Foster, was modeled after Bay Area

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

artist

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

by Robert Crais after a friend Dennis Bsharah urged him to look into the

horrorcore Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, or death rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip h ...

genre. In the movie adaptation, Foster strongly resembles the rapper.

's name was later changed to Dennis. The movie's opening scenes were filmed in the

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

neighborhood of East Los Angeles, just east of downtown. The fictional city of Bristo Camino was possibly intended to be a representation of

Ojai Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...

Moorpark Moorpark is a city in Ventura County in Southern California. Moorpark was founded in 1900. The town grew from just over 4,000 citizens in 1980 to over 25,000 by 1990. As of 2006, Moorpark was one of the fastest-growing cities in Ventura County.. ...

. Bristo Bay is the name of Bristo Camino in the 2001

'' novel''.

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

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

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 Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

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

* *
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