Lack of good storyline.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

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.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This was pretty good, not quite what I was expecting but in a way that made it better because it wasn't your cliché Bruce Willis action flick and held a few surprises. The story is suspenseful, twisty and very violent (people on fire, shot, stabbed) and filled with good performances.Willis plays a burnt out hostage negotiator who retreats from L.A with his family (including real life daughter Rumer) to become chief of police to a small town department. Of course this idyllic life doesn't last, after a failed robbery attempt two teenage brothers and their companion take a wealthy suburbanite family hostage and Willis again must negotiate.The story then splits with the introduction of a secondary plot as Bruce's wife and daughter are also kidnapped by more bad guys and he is blackmailed into getting incriminating evidence out of the first hostage family's house.I enjoyed Willis here, his character is very human, emotional and almost broken by the events he's faced and is still dealing with, even shedding a tear or two. I also liked the kid he works with.The three hostage takers are also excellent in particular (a young) Ben Foster who steals the show with his psychopathic tendencies while still managing to garner sympathy. All the characters are well fleshed out with back stories.It does go a bit OTT towards the end but not in a 'Die Hard' way and is worth a watch. 11/2/16

A good story if you can get past the ridiculous affirmative action casting, racial role reversals, and typical Christian bashing. Possible Spoiler Alert:The story takes place in a wealthy white area. However, the police captain is a black woman. The bad guy home invaders are white. They shoot a black woman police officer. The opening scene shows a white man holding his family hostage. He then recites from the bible, saying his Christian God wants him to send his family to heaven, then murders his wife and son. Too bad Jewish Hollywood is allowed to put this mind poison in almost every movie. When was the last time you saw a movie with a Jew quoting Jewish scripture before slaughtering his family? When have you seen a child molesting Rabbi in a movie? How many Catholic priests are portrayed that way?

Bruce Willis does what he can do best, and that's be John McClane. And John McClane he becomes. Comparisons are drawn instantly because differences are hard to find. Jeff Talley (Willis), now a humdrum cop after a bodged negotiating job, must negotiate his way through a new hostage crisis. A middle class family are being held in their house by some lower class youths looking to score themselves some money, and get at those they deem better than them. Tensions run high both inside and outside the house. Jeff's family is being held hostage as well, which thins out the main story. Things go awry when one of the youths, played by Ben Foster, goes crazy. His change in mentality is absurd, even if a little entertaining. It doesn't fit Hostage's composition. At least McClane's around to sort the mess out.

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!