Sadly Over-hyped

Absolutely Brilliant!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"When their daughter is abducted and taken for ransom by a gang of serial kidnappers, a young doctor and his wife find themselves held hostage while a 24-hour plan to extort their money is set into motion. Now, with time running out and the health of their asthmatic daughter at serious risk, they find themselves in a life-and-death race against the clock as the 'perfect crime' begins spiraling towards an unthinkable, terrifying and deadly conclusion," according to the film's official synopsis.This is the old "kidnapped family" plot, with the main attraction being casting devilish Kevin Bacon (as Joe Hickey) and gorgeous Charlize Theron (as Karen Jennings) in two of the main roles - gang leader and frazzled wife. Also interesting is how writer Greg Iles divides the kidnappers and victims into three locations… Mr. Bacon holds Ms. Theron at the family home; his wife, Courtney Love (as Cheryl), keeps Theron's husband, Stuart Townsend (as Will), in a hotel room, at gunpoint; and, Bacon's slow-witted cousin, Pruitt Taylor Vince (as Marvin Pool), minds little Dakota Fanning (as Abby) in a cabin. The three pairs come together in a "white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat" conclusion; and, by the time you realize it isn't even remotely plausible, director Luis Mandoki and the cast have you "Trapped".****** Trapped (9/20/02) Luis Mandoki ~ Charlize Theron, Kevin Bacon, Stuart Townsend, Courtney Love

I thought this was an excellent thriller, Kevin Bacon was great in this creepy role,, Charlize Theron is hot in this movie to say the last, when she takes it almost all off. Dakota Fanning was just wonderful, she is the best child actress out there by far. I thought the plot line was great kidnappers bragging about how they always get away with it,, also Courtney Love was hot in this movie,, she should have had more lines or less clothes in this movie. The story get's off to a neat start with a previous kidnapping of a little boy. throughout the movie the intensity builds to a crecendo where you don't know what gonna quite just happen next,, i thought the whole movie played out well, the amazing crashes at the end on the I-5 Freeway was pretty neat,, I didn't care for the husban'ds character, Stuart Townsend, felt they just made the wrong choice in picking him, but hey this movie is suspenseful, and it rocks..

First (1987) "Fatal Attraction" was released, where James Dearden (writer) shows us how to protect ourselves from the fear of HIV: Family. Then other films have to do with the fear of an unknown terror that interrupts the family happiness ("The Hand that Rocks the Cradle", "One Hour Photo", "Ransom", Unlawful Entry" etc.). Same old story in this film. The kidnappers are simply stupid (Bacon in his usual psycho portrait, Courtney Love tries hard to act), "family hug" can save us from every danger and father (another stupid character) decide to land his plane in the middle of the road not seeming to care how many people he might kill only to save his daughter! This disaster scene at the end destroys everything in the movie. Although Theron (unrealistic reactions from her) learn to us where you can hind a knife to save your life!

Average. The movie is full of clichés and most of all, the ending is totally unrealistic and overblown.Otherwise, if they had stuck to the basic plot, this could have been a nice little thriller, especially because on average, the acting was pretty good (especially Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon). As usual, for some reason Hollywood producers (or Directors) feel it necessary to cram movies with tons of unnecessary subplots most of the time, as well as add minutes of ridiculous 'action scenes' which usually make the films look unreal and unbelievable to the audience. Do they really think the average moviegoer is a moron? In this case, the ending definitely ruined what could have been a good thriller...