If Hostage looks a lot like a state-of-the-art French "policier" minus the pesky subtitles, the effect is purely intentional.
In his English-language debut, French director Florent Siri employs the same forceful, gritty style used for his 2002 film, The Nest, delivering a noir-tinged thriller with commercial aspirations.
The latter aspect is provided by Bruce Willis, who leads a similarly solid cast through the sharp twists and turns of Doug Richardson's script, based on the Robert Crais novel.
Sharing certain plot aspects with Panic Room, the picture should prove to be a moderate hit for Miramax, which has been buying a considerable amount of advance TV ad time in support of Willis' return to crime-fighting mode.
Willis is Jeff Talley, a former ace LAPD hostage negotiator, who, following the deaths of a mother and her young son, left Los Angeles and took a job as chief of police in a nominally low-crime area of Ventura County.
But he soon finds himself in the thick of things again after a trio of delinquent teenagers (Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker and Marshall Allman) hold a widowed, shady accountant (Kevin Pollak) and his two children (Michelle Horn and Jimmy Bennett) hostage following a bungled robbery attempt in their multimillion-dollar hilltop compound.
To further complicate matters, Pollak's Walter Smith is in possession of a disc containing digital information being sought by a particularly persuasive (federal?) outfit that has nabbed Talley's own estranged wife (Serena Scott Thomas) and daughter (Willis' real-life daughter, Rumer), to ensure that he delivers the goods.
Playing what is essentially an art house version of his Die Hard John McClane character, Willis wears the added layers of complexity effectively, as a reluctant hero struggling to clear a tricky path to redemption.
Also impressive is Foster in a change-of-pace turn as the creepy ringleader of the teenage assailants and scene-stealing young Bennett, who manages to fend quite nicely for himself in his fortress of a home.
Director Siri's heavily stylized visual approach translates successfully, at least before everything reaches an overly operatic third-act crescendo.
Contributing to the picture's edgy look is Italian cinematographer Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci, who was Siri's collaborator on The Nest, and production designer Larry Fulton, who worked on Willis' The Sixth Sense and succeeds in turning the sprawling Topanga Canyon compound into a bona fide character.
Completing the mood is an aria of a score by ever-versatile Alexandre Desplat (Birth, Girl With a Pearl Earring, ) that keeps tempo with each sudden plot curve and constantly shifting emotional tone.
Hostage
Miramax
Miramax Films and Stratus Film Co. present a Cheyenne Enterprises production
An Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG II production in association with Syndicate Films International
Credits:
Director: Florent Siri
Screenplay: Doug Richardson
Based on the book by Robert Crais
Producers: Mark Gordon, Robert Yari, Bruce Willis, Arnold Rifkin
Executive producers: Hawk Koch, David Wally, Andreas Thiesmeyer, Josef Lautenschlager
Director of photography: Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci
Production designer: Larry Fulton
Editors: Olivier Gajan, Richard J.P. Byard
Costume designer: Elisabetta Beraldo
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Cast:
Jeff Talley: Bruce Willis
Walter Smith: Kevin Pollak
Mars Krupcheck: Ben Foster
Dennis Kelly: Jonathan Tucker
Kevin Kelly: Marshall Allman
Jennifer Smith: Michelle Horn
Tommy Smith: Jimmy Bennett
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 113 minutes...
In his English-language debut, French director Florent Siri employs the same forceful, gritty style used for his 2002 film, The Nest, delivering a noir-tinged thriller with commercial aspirations.
The latter aspect is provided by Bruce Willis, who leads a similarly solid cast through the sharp twists and turns of Doug Richardson's script, based on the Robert Crais novel.
Sharing certain plot aspects with Panic Room, the picture should prove to be a moderate hit for Miramax, which has been buying a considerable amount of advance TV ad time in support of Willis' return to crime-fighting mode.
Willis is Jeff Talley, a former ace LAPD hostage negotiator, who, following the deaths of a mother and her young son, left Los Angeles and took a job as chief of police in a nominally low-crime area of Ventura County.
But he soon finds himself in the thick of things again after a trio of delinquent teenagers (Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker and Marshall Allman) hold a widowed, shady accountant (Kevin Pollak) and his two children (Michelle Horn and Jimmy Bennett) hostage following a bungled robbery attempt in their multimillion-dollar hilltop compound.
To further complicate matters, Pollak's Walter Smith is in possession of a disc containing digital information being sought by a particularly persuasive (federal?) outfit that has nabbed Talley's own estranged wife (Serena Scott Thomas) and daughter (Willis' real-life daughter, Rumer), to ensure that he delivers the goods.
Playing what is essentially an art house version of his Die Hard John McClane character, Willis wears the added layers of complexity effectively, as a reluctant hero struggling to clear a tricky path to redemption.
Also impressive is Foster in a change-of-pace turn as the creepy ringleader of the teenage assailants and scene-stealing young Bennett, who manages to fend quite nicely for himself in his fortress of a home.
Director Siri's heavily stylized visual approach translates successfully, at least before everything reaches an overly operatic third-act crescendo.
Contributing to the picture's edgy look is Italian cinematographer Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci, who was Siri's collaborator on The Nest, and production designer Larry Fulton, who worked on Willis' The Sixth Sense and succeeds in turning the sprawling Topanga Canyon compound into a bona fide character.
Completing the mood is an aria of a score by ever-versatile Alexandre Desplat (Birth, Girl With a Pearl Earring, ) that keeps tempo with each sudden plot curve and constantly shifting emotional tone.
Hostage
Miramax
Miramax Films and Stratus Film Co. present a Cheyenne Enterprises production
An Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG II production in association with Syndicate Films International
Credits:
Director: Florent Siri
Screenplay: Doug Richardson
Based on the book by Robert Crais
Producers: Mark Gordon, Robert Yari, Bruce Willis, Arnold Rifkin
Executive producers: Hawk Koch, David Wally, Andreas Thiesmeyer, Josef Lautenschlager
Director of photography: Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci
Production designer: Larry Fulton
Editors: Olivier Gajan, Richard J.P. Byard
Costume designer: Elisabetta Beraldo
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Cast:
Jeff Talley: Bruce Willis
Walter Smith: Kevin Pollak
Mars Krupcheck: Ben Foster
Dennis Kelly: Jonathan Tucker
Kevin Kelly: Marshall Allman
Jennifer Smith: Michelle Horn
Tommy Smith: Jimmy Bennett
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 113 minutes...
- 3/25/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opening with a hilarious monologue by lusty romantic Vincey (Mitchell Anderson) about the pros and cons of swallowing his lover's semen, "Relax ... It's Just Sex" plays shamelessly to its intended gay and lesbian audience. But the raucous, omnisexual ensemble comedy boasts a few bravo performances, including Jennifer Tilly as a dramatic "fag hag."
On Thursday, writer-director P.J. Castellanta's second feature opened Outfest '98, the 16th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, to a packed house at the Orpheum in downtown Los Angeles. A gala party followed outdoors behind the gorgeous but sweltering 1926 movie palace.
"Relax" is overlong, and much of the screenplay is predictable as Castellanta tries to cover a lot of ground, including the horrors of gay-bashing and the wrenching pain of a mother losing a baby. Gays, lesbians and straights comprise an extended family centered on Tara (Tilly) and her boyfriend Gus Timothy Paul Perez). She wants a kid and he's feeling pressured, and they set the pace for most couples in the film with a loud, spontaneous screw in the kitchen before one of several group gatherings.
Gus' movie-quoting brother Javi (Eddie Garcia) is HIV-positive. He is destined to meet and fall for Buzz (T.C. Carson), a handsome, articulate black artist with radical theories that antagonize others. Particularly up-in-arms are Dwight (Gibbs Toldsdort) and Diego (Chris Cleveland), a perfect gay couple made fun of regularly by the grumpy Vincey.
While Vincey is always unlucky in love, he doesn't deserve the beating he receives in an alley. But when he's rescued by the gang, led as usual by the fiery Tara, he turns into a sexual avenger and nearly melts down in the aftermath.
On a lighter note, the breakup of longtime lesbian couple Megan (Serena Scott Thomas) and Sarina (Cynda Williams) when the former starts dating a man is not a matter of life and death. Voluptuous Sarina connects with very butch Robin (Lori Petty) in a fairly normal romance, but Megan remains part of the group, causing tension.
Seymour Cassel, Paul Winfield and particularly Susan Tyrell have terrific bit parts in a sprawling film interspersed with black-and-white video interviews of the principals.
Much of the humor is calculated to shock, but it's not always the freshest material. The movie is competently directed, but the offbeat soundtrack is often distracting. Thankfully, the performances make one relax and enjoy the film's many good points.
RELAX ... IT'S JUST SEX
A Forefront Films/
Sneak Preview production
Writer-director: P.J. Castellanta
Producers: Steven J. Wolfe,
Megan O'Neill, Harold Warren
Executive producers: Eli Kabillio,
Cevin D. Soling
Director of photography: Lon Magdich
Production designer: Timm Bergen
Editor: Tom Seid
Costume designer: Sharon Lynch
Music: Lori Eschler Frystak
Casting: Shevonne Durkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Vincey: Mitchell Anderson
Tara: Jennifer Tilly
Buzz: T.C. Carson
Gus: Timothy Paul Perez
Megan: Serena Scott Thomas
Sarina: Cynda Williams
Robin: Lori Petty
Javi: Eddie Garcia
Dwight: Gibbs Toldsdort
Diego: Chris Cleveland
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating...
On Thursday, writer-director P.J. Castellanta's second feature opened Outfest '98, the 16th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, to a packed house at the Orpheum in downtown Los Angeles. A gala party followed outdoors behind the gorgeous but sweltering 1926 movie palace.
"Relax" is overlong, and much of the screenplay is predictable as Castellanta tries to cover a lot of ground, including the horrors of gay-bashing and the wrenching pain of a mother losing a baby. Gays, lesbians and straights comprise an extended family centered on Tara (Tilly) and her boyfriend Gus Timothy Paul Perez). She wants a kid and he's feeling pressured, and they set the pace for most couples in the film with a loud, spontaneous screw in the kitchen before one of several group gatherings.
Gus' movie-quoting brother Javi (Eddie Garcia) is HIV-positive. He is destined to meet and fall for Buzz (T.C. Carson), a handsome, articulate black artist with radical theories that antagonize others. Particularly up-in-arms are Dwight (Gibbs Toldsdort) and Diego (Chris Cleveland), a perfect gay couple made fun of regularly by the grumpy Vincey.
While Vincey is always unlucky in love, he doesn't deserve the beating he receives in an alley. But when he's rescued by the gang, led as usual by the fiery Tara, he turns into a sexual avenger and nearly melts down in the aftermath.
On a lighter note, the breakup of longtime lesbian couple Megan (Serena Scott Thomas) and Sarina (Cynda Williams) when the former starts dating a man is not a matter of life and death. Voluptuous Sarina connects with very butch Robin (Lori Petty) in a fairly normal romance, but Megan remains part of the group, causing tension.
Seymour Cassel, Paul Winfield and particularly Susan Tyrell have terrific bit parts in a sprawling film interspersed with black-and-white video interviews of the principals.
Much of the humor is calculated to shock, but it's not always the freshest material. The movie is competently directed, but the offbeat soundtrack is often distracting. Thankfully, the performances make one relax and enjoy the film's many good points.
RELAX ... IT'S JUST SEX
A Forefront Films/
Sneak Preview production
Writer-director: P.J. Castellanta
Producers: Steven J. Wolfe,
Megan O'Neill, Harold Warren
Executive producers: Eli Kabillio,
Cevin D. Soling
Director of photography: Lon Magdich
Production designer: Timm Bergen
Editor: Tom Seid
Costume designer: Sharon Lynch
Music: Lori Eschler Frystak
Casting: Shevonne Durkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Vincey: Mitchell Anderson
Tara: Jennifer Tilly
Buzz: T.C. Carson
Gus: Timothy Paul Perez
Megan: Serena Scott Thomas
Sarina: Cynda Williams
Robin: Lori Petty
Javi: Eddie Garcia
Dwight: Gibbs Toldsdort
Diego: Chris Cleveland
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/13/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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