Hostage is a 2005 American action thriller film directed by Florent Siri from the screenplay by Doug Richardson. It is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Robert Crais. The film stars Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Ben Foster, and Jonathan Tucker and follows the police chief who takes place as the negotiator when the family of a wealthy accountant is held hostage by three teenagers.

Hostage was released in the United States on March 11, 2005, by Miramax Films. It received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box-office disappointment, grossing $78 million worldwide on a budget of $75 million. Jonathan Tucker's name was later changed to Dennis.

The movie's opening scenes were filmed in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, just east of downtown.

The fictional city of Bristo Camino was possibly intended to be a representation of Ojai or Moorpark. Bristo Bay is the name of Bristo Camino in the 2001 Robert Crais novel.

Release

In April 2004, Miramax Films acquired North American distribution rights to Hostage after 40 minutes of footage was screened to the studio during principal photography. It was released theatrically on March 11, 2005, after being originally slated for a January 21, 2005 release.

Home media

Hostage was released on DVD & VHS on June 21, 2005 and Blu-ray + Digital HD on August 23, 2011.

Reception

Box office

The film earned $34.6 million at the United States box office and a total worldwide gross of $77.6 million. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, writing: "In scenes where a hero must outgun four or five armed opponents, however, Hostage does use the reliable action movie technique of cutting from one target to the next, so that we never see what the others are doing while the first ones are being shot. Waiting for their closeups, I suppose."

In a BBC review of Hostage, Paul Arendt awarded the film three out of five stars, describing it as a violent and exploitative home-invasion thriller built around a late-career action performance by Bruce Willis.

He noted the film’s reliance on sadistic and sensational narrative devices, including threats to the hostages, to generate suspense.

See also

  • The Aggression Scale—a film with a similar premise
  • List of films featuring home invasions

References

  • Filming Locations