by Patricia Rainford

Created on: January 28, 2009

Robert Crais is undoubtedly one of the best crime novelists in our time. When I first read Hostage, I was hooked on Robert Crais and read every RC novel I could get my hands on. When I heard about the movie, I was excited as well as skeptical. There are times when Hollywood goes overboard, changing the story, tweaking it here and there to suit entertainment needs. There were a couple of changes to the story but not significant enough to mention. (But significant enough to spark a debate between my sister and I; a debate I lost.)

In any case, the story begins by showing just how Jeff Talley (played by Bruce Willis) came to be this broken man who no longer wanted to work in a large city as a hostage negotiator. He promised a little boy that he would bring him out alive. It didn't quite work out and Jeff was left with deep scars, feeling responsible for the boy's death.

Fast forward. Jeff is the chief of police in a small peaceful town... peaceful until three youths (one of which is a psychotic murderer) take a rich man and his son and daughter hostage. Jeff is all too willing to give up command of the hostage situation to the county but the rich man happens to be an accountant for an organized crime group. Evidence of the criminal financial status hides in the house. After Jeff gives up command, the organized crime group kidnaps him, shows him that they have taken his wife and daughter and make their demands. They tell him to take back command and get the accountant out of the house. Not only is Jeff fighting for the life of his wife and daughter, he desperately wants to get the hostages out of the house alive, including the accountant's son, who reminds him of the little boy Jeff let die in the opening scene.

In the middle of this, the psychotic teen thinks he's in love with the accountant's daughter. He has a romantic notion that she will either go with him or die with him and refuses to leave the house without her.

I won't spoil the rest for you. You have to watch the movie to see just how the story ends. It differs from other action flicks in that the story itself is full of wild cards, plot twists, and suspense. If it had been a simple story of trying to get hostages out of the house alive, I wouldn't have been so enthralled with it. But throw in organized crime and the psychotic version of love and it takes the story in a whole new direction. Jeff has to battle personal demons as well as try to keep everyone alive. I personally enjoyed it and give it four out of five stars.

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