Dignfied

Rating: 7/10 (11 January 2001)

John McTiernan's dignified direction keeps this thriller from spinning out of control--not that the hysteria the cast brings to the proceedings doesn't try to subvert that intent. The cast includes Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman (in a performance that defines the film), Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson and the late Alexander Godunov and they're dead set on demonstrating their flashy talents. But McTiernan has always been a steady hand and has brought a necessary lighter touch to the genre than others in the field; it's easy to take the very underrated "The Last Action Hero" over anything Tony Scott might come up with ("True Romance" being the exception). Here, the story of hostages held at the top of a high rise (with its echoes of "The Towering Inferno") is well-paced but muted; if he had wanted, McTiernan could have made a much louder epic. Fortunately, he didn't.