Simply Perfect

How sad is this?

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Apart from the character played by Meg Ryan the movie was quite good. Meg Ryan's character came across as shallow and ever so slightly spoiled---it was all about her. Her husband's sister was also a weak character.She seemed to be more concerned about the hostage's safety then his wife. Having said that, the story was a good one, and apparently based on a true event which happened in Colombia. The scenes of the captives during their ordeal were a little harrowing. I would not have chosen this movie to see at the cinema, but it provided a nice evening's entertainment in the comfort of our lounge on television. Russell Crowe played his part well, as did the actor playing the hostage. I did not like David Caruso in his part---he seems to have the same acting technique in everything he appears in---wooden, and sounds as if he is reading his lines.

I found this movie to be very good, the scenery and action mixed well and the acting was great. Most reviewers did not like the love story, but i felt it was perfect. It did not make the characters very popular but who cares. I felt the ending was a little off as most viewers. Did not like the reception she gave her husband, but it worked for me. I feel so many viewers missed what the ending meant, disliking the characters and not understanding what took place which was he basically said go to your husband because he knew he was a good man for his humanitarian work. and understood that what took place was wrong. The husband was a good guy and the affair would have in my opinion caught up with them after she realized he did not deserve to loose his wife after what he went through Plus she was the one having problems he could not do much about. So the rescuer pushed her back where she belonged and brought her head out of the clouds. The husband had figured something was up anyway and waited for her to walk back to him. At that moment I felt they would be OK. The movie would have not worked if they had gotten together with what the husband had went thru. Good fast paced action and David Coruso and David Morse were very good. I recommend this movie since you now have a different ending interpretation

This is a terrific movie, and I'm not the only one who thinks so and as such is well under-rated. It manages to combine a great storyline full of action and suspense with a love interest as well. The romantic aspect is of course really subtle, and all the more compelling because of this, and doesn't get in the way of the action.Crowe is just brilliant, and totally believable, as the kidnapping and ransom specialist Terry Thorne who is called in to rescue Peter Bowman, the husband of Alice played by Meg Ryan. Meg Ryan I think plays her part quite well, but it's hard to see what Russell Crowe's character saw in her romantically.The location and all the supporting character performances also have a real air of authenticity about them.

I found this to be a very decent, well made motion picture that did what it was supposed to do: entertain! Now I do agree with the critics that it has some shortfalls, it is certainly not perfect, but sufficiently good to offer more than two hours of suspense, action and basically film-going enjoyment. I disagree with most that the movie is too long, I find the duration to be fine, I did not catch myself being bored for an instant for the duration of the film.As far as the acting is concerned, I think David Morse put in an excellent performance here as the kidnapped husband. Very good acting indeed. As far as the two starring actors are concerned, I do not find as some say, that Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe were miscast in this picture. On the contrary I think they work well in this type of picture, especially Russel Crowe who does a very good job playing an ex SAS officer. Special forces soldiers do not look or act like Schwarzenegger, they are more or less exactly as Crowe portrayed them. Yes, I agree that Meg Ryan could have been more emotionally involving, more dramatic, but she brings so many other things to the screen that others don't (naivete, believability, charm, etc.). You can't have everything (well you can, but not always...). In other, I found the movie has been well directed, the cinematography and sound are also good. On the flip side, the screenplay could have been a little more 'sophisticated' (Ebert put it very nicely: "Perhaps the screenplay should have been kept simmering until it was reduced a little, and its flavors made stronger").All in all, not an artistic masterpiece but a good, entertaining motion picture to watch with a beer and a nice packet of popcorn. Isn't this what movies are supposed to be about anyway?