Good - but not that good

Rating: 7/10 (15 August 2006)

I went in to this film with high expectations due to the cast and whilst their performances were fairly good, the film as a whole was not as great as I'd hoped. As a hostage movie I found The Negotiator with Sam Jackson far more entertaining and the start of Swordfish with Hugh Jackman far more exciting (the worlds largest walking claymore mines). I found the story interesting but once I got the gist of what was going on I just found myself wanting to get to the end, not really caring what happened along the way. As a bank robbery movie I found the whole process of Oceans 11 and Heat far more interesting and cerebral. I won't give anything away and talk about the ending, but when it comes, considering the fairly slow build up, it is one of those "oh right" moments but it doesn't hit you like the ending of Planet of the Apes or The Usual Suspects. So to summarise, an interesting journey, but not one to add to your DVD collection for repeated viewing. It gets a 7 mainly for the 2 central performances from Owen & Washington and for Jodie foster looking great for once (good riddance to those awful Silence of the Lambs FBI clothes)