Mel Gibson took on a big movie star role with Ransom.

We take a look back at Ron Howard’s 1996 thriller…

The hunt is then turned around, quite cleverly.

Come the half way point, the film lets go when it should be powering forward.

The premise seems to be frittered away.

Lets get the worst bit out of the way first though.

The opening 15 minutes are galloped through, and rightly so.

Theyre the bits the film is least interested in exploring, and as such, business is done swiftly.

And then theres their young son Sean, played by Nick Noltes son, Brawley.

The three are clearly a tight family unit, so somethings bound to go wrong.

And it does, courtesy of a not-very-well-handled kidnap sequence.

Everything in this part ofRansomis so desperately signposted.

Theres no tension, because the clues as to what to feel and think are everywhere.

Heck, Sean has a flying contraption, which exists to signpost when hes been grabbed.

And then his father is stood by the van his kidnapped, non-protesting son is in, without noticing.

And a lot of the time it works.

For considering how efficiently the kidnap itself takes place, theres a lot of incompetence amongst the kidnappers.

Right from the start, theyre a flawed bunch.

The mystery if youd somehow missed the trailer is solved.

Its interesting the way Sinise plays his character, Jimmy Shaker.

He threads Shaker with an ordinary-ness.

He never feels sinister as a consequence of that, but he is a solid foe.

But thats also in part because of some interesting turns taken with Gibsons character.

At first its hinted inRansomthat Tom Mullen is a far from perfect man.

And then its confirmed.

The visit doesnt go well.

The film threatens to take a far darker turn.

Then we have a lead kidnapper leading a double life of his own.

It evolves into an intriguing setup.

Which it then fails to make the most of, even if it gets close.

It doesnt help that Shaker breaks so many of his rules, and rides roughshod over logic.

Rule one: dont involve the police.

Tom Mullen pretty much instantly calls the police.

There is no real penalty for this.

Rule two: Shaker disguises his voice, and keeps conversation to a bare minimum.

Shaker gives away information for no logical reason at all.

A man driven by the money suddenly wants to explain why he wants it.

Its a bit baffling.

You cant help but conclude that Tom Mullen is more ruthless bastard than good father.

The division between the pair grows, and the film continues to get more interesting.

Shaker decides that hes basically going to turn in his accomplices and emerge the hero.

Its set up for a genuinely thrilling finale.

Sean has, after all, been held for at least three days, if not longer.

In fact, far more likely is that Tom Mullen will end up in prison.

At first, he confesses to Lindos Agent that he did indeed bribe Jackie Brown.

No ending to that storyline is particularly pleasant.

Thats all the more impressive considering it had different pressures.

The gamble just about pays off.

It stands up quite well too.

And Ron Howard, for one, deserves a lot of credit for that.