Summary
7 tech score
“Kidnap” (Aviron Pictures)
Halle Berry’s new film “Kidnap” has enough action and thrills to give audiences panic attacks. Viewers will be pressing the floor in front of their seats hard enough to sprain an ankle as they try to stomp on the brakes of the vehicle Berry is driving in this moment to moment car chase thriller. From start to finish this movie is an adrenalin packed tale of a mother in pursuit of her kidnapped son.
Karla Dyson (Berry) is a hard working mother of a six-year old son, Frankie (Sage Correa). She and her husband are separated and on the verge of divorce. Karla wants to keep Frankie’s life as normal as possible so she spends as much time with him as she can. One day she takes him to an amusement park for some mother/son time. While there she gets a call from her attorney. She moves away from her son in order to keep the conversation private and when she looks back Frankie is gone.
While scouring the park she spots Frankie being dragged into a vehicle. She tries to stop the car with her body and loses her phone in the process. She then races to her car and starts to chase the kidnappers on the streets and interstates around New Orleans. She is a woman driven to desperation and she will do whatever it takes to get her son back.
Berry is at her best as the hell on wheels mother. In addition to looking great she also shows us the dramatic talent that won her an Academy Award a few years ago. She takes us inside Karla’s mind and lets us feel the panic that engulfs her. This is primarily done through the eyes and they are indeed the windows to Karla’s soul.
Director Luis Prieto knows how to keep his hand on the fever switch and manages to keep the plot going rapid pace for the length of the movie. He is ably abetted by Knate Lee’s script which makes most of the storyline believable. There are a few leaps of faith you have to make but overall the pieces fit into the overall picture.
It is Berry though who is the glue that holds the movie together. Coming in second is young Correa who makes Frankie a kid you would do almost anything to rescue. Chris McGinn and Lew Temple add a true sense of violence to the film with their roles of the deeply evil kidnappers.
The movie is rated R for violence and profanity.
“Kidnap” is a tour de force for Berry. She plays one mean mother any kid would want in his/her corner. She stays on the kidnappers trail and the audience stays right with her. It is exhausting but well worth the effort.
I scored “Kidnap” a grabbed 7 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
