RANSOM (1996)

MORGAN'S RATING

A headstrong airline tycoon must pay the ransom for his abducted son despite the pleas of his wife and FBI agents, then must gamble on the consequences of attempting to turn the tables on the kidnapper, setting up a gut-wrenching confrontation between the anguished father and the increasingly desperate criminals. This tightly conceived nail-biter is another fine effort from director Ron Howard.

Mel Gibson (Tom Mullen), Rene Russo (Kate Mullen), Brawley Nolte (Sean Mullen), Gary Sinise (Detective Jimmy Shaker), Delroy Lindo (Agent Lonnie Hawkins), Lili Taylor (Maris Conner), Liev Schreiber (Clark Barnes), Donnie Wahlberg (Cubby Barnes), Evan Handler (Miles Roberts), Nancy Ticotin (Agent Kimba Welch), Michael Gaston (Agent Jack Sickler), Kevin Neil McCready (Agent Paul Rhodes), Paul Guilfoyle (Wallace), Allen Bernstein (Bob Stone), Jose Zuniga (David Torres), Dan Hedaya (Jackie Brown), Iraida Polanco (Fatema), John Ortiz (Roberto), Mike Hodge (Man at Party), Paul Geier (Mayor Barresi), Louisa Marie (Woman at Party), Edward Francis Joseph (Guest at Party), A.J. Benza (Reporter Guest), Peter Anthony Tambakis (Nelson), Tony Hoty (Doorman), Daniel May Wong (Agent Sam), John Short (Agent Dewey), Ed Jupp Jr. (Technician), Gene Harrison (FBI SWAT Team Leader), Stephen Oates, Mick O'Rourke, Henry Kingi Jr., Roy Farfel, Lex D. Geddings (NYPD SWAT Team), Donna Hanover (News Reporter), Rosanna Scotto, Tony Potts (News Anchors), John 'Spike' Finnerty (Newshound), Todd Hallowell (Don Campbell), Joe Bacino, Carl S. Redding, James Georgiades, Christian Maelen, David Vadim (Cops), Cheryl Howard (Science Fair Coordinator).

SOMEONE IS GOING TO PAY.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Ron Howard (The Missing). WRITERS: Cyril Hume, Richard Maibaum, Richard Price and Alexander Ignon. PRODUCERS: Brian Grazer, Kip Hagopian and Scott Rudin. ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Aldric La'Auli Porter and Louisa Velis. CO-PRODUCERS: Susan Merzbach and Adam Schroeder. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Todd Hallowell. ORIGINAL MUSIC: James Horner (score), Billy Corgan (music: kidnapper's boombox), Jim Lang (Endeavor Airlines commercial theme). DISTRIBUTOR: Touchstone Pictures.

FACTS

RELEASE DATE: November 8th, 1996 (USA) BOX OFFICE OPENING: $34.2 million (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $136.4 million (USA) BUDGET: $80 million (USA) - Production was delayed a few days when Mel Gibson needed an emergency appendectomy. - Tom (Gibson) suggests "John Smith" as a good pseudonym; Gibson provided the voice of John Smith in Pocahontas (1995). - In the science fair scene, when Rene Russo's character asks which school is this, they reply P.S. 41. This is an actual school which provided some of the science fair props for the scene. - Composer Howard Shore wrote and recorded a full score, which was rejected by Ron Howard and replaced with a new one by James Horner.

QUOTES

Kate Mullan: You would pay to keep your airline, why won't you pay for your son?

Tom Mullan: You kill him, you kill yourself, you motherfucker! Give me back my son!!

Maris Conner: You're fucking drinking again. Miles Roberts: But that's okay, see, because I'm not drinking with the kid.

Kate Mullan: He's so shy. Next month he's doing the underwear billboard in Times Square.

Tom Mullan: The whole world now knows, my son Sean Mullen was kidnapped for ransom three days ago. This is a recent photograph of him. Sean, if you're watching, we love you. And this -- well, this is what waits for the man that took him. This is your ransom, $2,000,000 in unmarked bills, just like you wanted. But this is as close as you'll ever get to it. You'll never see one dollar of this money, because no ransom will ever be paid for my son. Not one dime, not one penny. Instead, I'm offering this money as a reward on your head -- dead or alive, it doesn't matter. So congratulations, you've just become a $2,000,000 lottery ticket...except the odds are much, much better. Do you know anyone that wouldn't turn you in for $2,000,000?

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"Two thumbs up!" -- Siskel and Ebert

"This is a blueprint for mainstream moviegoing, but be forewarned that the finale is surprisingly down-and-dirty. In this case, though, the violence blisteringly redeems what has been a merely OK thriller." -- Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today

"It never comes off the screen and makes you feel pity and terror for your own fragile humanity. It never makes you feel the rage, or the fear." -- Harvey O'Brien, Harvey's Movie Reviews

Tom Mullen: My son is dead, go to hell!