Ransom ***½ (1996, Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Brawley Nolte, Gary Sinise, Delroy Lindo, Liev Schreiber, Lili Taylor) – Classic Movie Review 2,999

Mel Gibson is a satisfyingly edgy in director Ron Howard’s tense, robust, well-made 1996 thriller film remake Ransom, with some solid bursts of action.

Making a good job of a rather grim part, a satisfyingly edgy Mel Gibson takes the Glenn Ford part in director Ron Howard’s tense, robust, well-made 1996 film Ransom, a remake of the 1956 thriller Ransom!, with some solid bursts of action.

When Sean Mullen (Brawley Nolte), the son of a wealthy couple Tom and Kate Mullen (Gibson, Rene Russo) is held to ransom, his parents are divided over whether to pay up.

The self-made millionaire father Tom Mullen is initially willing to pay the ransom, but the drop goes wrong and later he decides to go on to threaten the kidnappers, alienating the distraught mother. He goes on TV to say the ransom he was going to give to the kidnapper is now a bounty on him.

Gary Sinise as NYPD Detective Jimmy Shaker.

A fired-up Gibson dominates nearly every scene with his convincing performance as the nervy but determined father, but a showy Gary Sinise also gets a look in as the cop on the case, NYPD Detective Jimmy Shaker.

Also in the cast are Delroy Lindo, Liev Schreiber, Lili Taylor, Donnie Wahlberg, Evan Handler, Nancy Ticotin, Michael Gaston, Kevin Neil McCready, Paul Guilfoyle, Allen Bernstein, José Zúñiga, Dan Hedaya, John Ortiz, Mike Hodge, Iraida Polanco and Paul Geier.

Richard Price and Alexander Ignon’s script is based on the 1956 screenplay by Cyril Hume and Richard Maibaum, which in turn was based on their teleplay from a 1954 TV episode of The United States Steel Hour titled Fearful Decision.

It runs 121 minutes but the long extended special edition version is 139 minutes.

The film and Gibson were very popular at the time. The film was the fifth highest-grossing film of 1996 in the US. On a budget of $70 million, it took $309.5 million at the box office. Gibson was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Brawley Nolte.

Brawley Nolte is the son of Nick Nolte.

Release date: November 8, 1996.

The score is by James Horner, who won two Oscars for the music of Titanic (1997) and scored such other blockbusters as Avatar, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Aliens, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Wolfen, Legends of the Fall, Krull, Battle Beyond the Stars, A Beautiful Mind, Titanic and A Beautiful Mind died in a plane crash on 22 June 2015, aged 61.

‘Brilliant composer James Horner, friend & collaborator on 7 movies has tragically died in a plane crash. My heart aches for his loved ones.’ — Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) June 23 2015.

The cast are Mel Gibson as Tom Mullen, Rene Russo as Kate Mullen, Brawley Nolte as Sean Mullen, Gary Sinise as NYPD Detective Jimmy Shaker, Delroy Lindo as FBI Special Agent Lonnie Hawkins, Lili Taylor as Maris Conner, Liev Schreiber as Clark Barnes, Donnie Wahlberg as ‘Cubby’ Barnes, Evan Handler as Miles Roberts, Paul Guilfoyle as FBI Director Stan Wallace, José Zúñiga as David Torres, Dan Hedaya as Jackie Brown, John Ortiz as Roberto, David Vadim as an NYPD Officer, Mike Hodge, Iraida Polanco and Paul Geier.

Among many other things, the film changes the characters’ names. Glenn Ford and Donna Reed starred as Dave and Edith Stannard in the 1996 film Ransom!

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,999

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