One of my all time favorites.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This movie was quite down to earth, better than I expected. Childhood friends know each other well and their emotions. A decision is made to kidnap Mr. Heineken (Anthony Hopkins). All goes well, but as the days and weeks go by waiting for the ransom and to go back to a "normal life" everything starts to unravel. Mr. Heineken does not seem like he has been the kidnapped. Immediately he plays upon his capture's emotions, even saying that one cannot have friendship and money at the same time. This is exactly what happens to the kidnappers, leading to their capture and ruining their friendship. Mr. Heineken had really been control all along. He makes it his personal mission to get the kidnappers, not for their actual crine but because they dared to slight him and his money and power.

"Kidnapping Mr. Heinekin" from 2015 is a case of what happens when the true story is told so rigorously that it saps the excitement of the story.Beer tycoon Alfred Heineken's 1983 kidnapping resulted in the largest ransom ever paid, 16 million Euros. The job was executed by Cor van Hout (Jim Sturgess), Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington), Jan Boelaard (Ryan Kwanten), Frans Meijer (Mark van Eeuwen), and Martin Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel), men turned down by the bank for a business loan who resort to crime. Heineken himself is played by Anthony Hopkins.Unfortunately there is not enough back story about the criminals, about Heineken himself, or about Heineken's chauffeur who is also kidnapped. The whole movie is about the kidnapping, attempts to get the ransom, and the men dispersing in order to hide out. There is just not enough to pull the movie together into anything exciting. Anthony Hopkins is fantastic, of course, but he doesn't have that big of a role. He can't really carry the film. As Heineken, he remains calm and isn't afraid to ask for things that will make his stay chained in a room more comfortable - books, better food, etc. His main concern seems to be his chauffeur (David Dencik) who seems really frightened. It's easy to see, from this performance anyway, how Heineken built his company with such success. He has a keen analytical mind and inner strength. Too bad we didn't get to see more of it, it might have helped.The rest of the acting is good but somehow one stays disassociated from the kidnappers, probably because we don't know that much about them. Not horrible, but not the best crime film you'll ever see.

The title says it all: "The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken." Director Daniel Alfredson's take on the 1982 abduction of the Dutch brewing magnate breaks no new ground. However, the film is engrossing and well paced, despite an evident low-budget European production. Based on real events, the movie depicts a kidnapping that resulted in the largest ransom ever paid for a single individual. Set in Amsterdam, five down-on-their-luck buddies seemingly concoct the abduction and a preliminary bank robbery without a great deal of deep thought or careful planning. Somewhat surprisingly, a man of Heineken's immense wealth is taken easily, and the first-time criminals have beginner's luck all around. However, the ransom payment is dragged out, and tensions erupt among the men.While Anthony Hopkins plays the small part of Alfred "Freddy" Heineken convincingly, when shackled in a cell, he displays familiar flashes of Hannibal Lector. Although Sam Worthington and Jim Sturgess head the kidnappers, most of the faces are lesser known, but, like Hopkins, all acquit themselves nicely. The film is better than average, and, with a fairly short running time, introduces viewers unfamiliar with the crime to some of the details, despite accusations of inaccuracy. "The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken" moves fast, is worth a look, and will keep most viewers entertained.

Review: I really wasn't a big fan of this film because it's really slow and the storyline isn't that great. Its about 4 childhood friends who are in some financial problems so they come up with a bright idea, to kidnap Freddy Heineken for a huge ransom. I know that this ridiculous idea was plotted in 1988 so there wasn't security cameras everywhere like there is today but I really don't know how they thought that they were going to get away with such a huge heist. They seemed to be making it up as they went along and they didn't figure out a what they were going to do with the money until the end, which seemed a bit strange. For entertainment, it wasn't that great because the 4 childhood buddies seemed to be bickering most of the time and the money didn't really bring any joy to there life's. You didn't get to see what happened from the investigating point of view so the police kept on popping up out of the blue, without much explanation. Anthony Hopkins played his part well, as usual, but the 4 main characters didn't really bring intensity to such a difficult situation, which is mostly due to the writing. I'm sure that the money that they robbed to fund the kidnapping, could have cleared up some of there debt so I didn't have much sympathy for the dumb criminals. At the end of the day, it was blatant greed that pushed this guys on the run so they got everything that they deserved. Average!Round-Up: Sam Worthington has made some weird films since his big role in Avatar! He's had roles in Clash & Wraith of the Titans, which wasn't that bad but Termination Salvation wasn't that great. Since then, he's had some small projects like Sabotage, which was pretty average and Man on a Ledge which was also average but with some more Avatar movies in the pipeline, he really is set up for life. His acting style isn't the greatest but he has made some decent choices so at 38 years old, he really hasn't done too bad since making his debut in Hart's War in 2002. Anyway, the director of this movie Daniel Alfredson, also directed the Girl Who Played With Fire and the Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, which were no way as good as the original and he has made quite a few TV series so he hasn't made that many movies for the big screen. He could have done a better job with this film, especially with Hopkins commitment to the project but the concept was interesting, as it's based on true events.I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama movies about a group of childhood friends who come up with a plan to kidnap Mr. Heineken for a hefty ransom, to help them out of there financial difficulties. 4/10