A good story told with a weak style

Rating: 4/10 (21 October 2007)

The ideas and questions of kidnapping and ethics presented in this film have great potential, but it folds under a weak script. At many points in the film, especially at the end, Afflec interrupts these points with things not as relevant to the story.
What are we supposed to walk away with after watching this film? For the majority of its duration, I thought it would be something significant as the story was heading in that direction, but I was ultimately let down.
Story flaws aside, the dialogue is quite atrocious and the acting did nothing to help this. Afflec's inexperience shows itself most abundantly here.
The overall style comes off rather trite and exaggerated as well:
The music is too melodramatic
The Boston heritage is overdone
The voice-overs don't complement the story (the narrative voice-overs are unnecessary and the transition voice-overs are excessive)
And finally, the characters are uninteresting. With the exception of the little girl, I don't care about any of them. Deaths happen frequently, but I feel no emotion when someone hits the bucket. Rather than being characters with wills and souls of their own, they are players in a pre-destined plot. Morgan Freeman gives an excellent performance as usual, but this is the first film I've seen him in where I am apathetic to his fate and purpose. This is an important, powerful, and moving story. Unfortunately, the film doesn't share these qualities..