Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Rating: 2/5
Daniel Alfredson is the man that brought Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy to the big screen and now he is set to return to the director's chair with Kidnapping Freddy Heineken.
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken is his first film since Echoes from the Dead and sees the filmmaker return to the crime drama to tell this incredible true story.
When they're turned down for a bank loan that would let them go straight, low-level career criminals Cor Van Hout (Sturgess), Willem Holleeder (Worthington) and friends strike upon an idea to solve all of their problems in one fell swoop - the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken (Hopkins), heir to the brewing empire and one of the wealthiest men in the Netherlands.
Robbing banks to fund a meticulous operation, the group falls deeper into criminality before pulling off the plan and abducting Heineken and his driver, holding them both for 21 days before a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilder is paid - equivalent to 15 million Euros and still the largest sum ever paid as a ransom for a single person. However, the reality of life on the run and the pressures of guilt soon begin to infect the group as it starts to unravel from within...
On paper, Kidnapping Freddy Heineken should be a sure-fire winner, great story, interesting characters, talented director and a terrific cast, and yet this is a disappointing movie that does fall more than a little flat.
I always find the true stories to be some of the best, and yet much of the intrigue that surrounds this tale has all but disappeared - which is a major shame. This could be a riveting crime caper and yet there is little here that will get your pulse racing.
The major problem with Kidnapping Freddy Heineken is that major characters - both the kidnappers and the captive - are just not that interesting.
Anthony Hopkins is always a terribly watchable actor and he really does do the best with what he has. He is by far the best thing in this film and he starts to creep out those who have kidnapped him, but the script never really gets under the skin of this character.
Hopkins, Sturgess, and Worthington are trio of very talented and exciting actors but it is the script that really does let them down. The dialogue and the chemistry between those doing the kidnapping feels false and forced - you get the sense that the actors didn't really believe in what they were saying or doing.
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken could have been a slick and fascinating character drama that explored the mind games of the kidnapped and the captive - sadly, it has been unable to deliver any of these things.
This is a movie that lacks thrills, intrigue, and excitement, which is a major surprise when you look back at the sorts of movies that Alfredson has delivered in the past.