"Hostage" opens with gritty red, black and white titles which walk a fine line between being mood-inducing and trying too hard to be creative. Nonetheless, I applaud them for trying something different. Willis plays Jeff Talley, a hostage negotiator for the LAPD. Think of him as a West Coast John McClane. Talley is good at his job, but he transfers to the quieter neighborhood of Ventura County after a hostage situation takes a turn for the worst, literally leaving Talley with a child's blood on his hands. Talley is comfortable with his new "low-crime" town, but it doesn't take long for Talley's new set-up to fall to pieces when three teenagers attempting to highjack an Escalade from the rich Smith family find themselves holding the family hostage: a father (Kevin Pollak) and his two children Jennifer (Michelle Horn) and Tommy (Jimmy Bennett). Of the three teens, the most villainous is without question Mars, played by Ben Foster. As Mars, Foster is absolutely criminal and downright disturbing. Foster's partners in crime are a pair of brothers played by Jonathan Tucker and Marshall Allman. After witnessing Mars' destructive and murderous behavior, the brothers realize that with Mars at the wheel, they're destined to become victims themselves.
Talley arrives at the scene of the hostage crisis but quickly turns it over to a higher echelon task force-he's clearly still shaken up over his last hostage assignment and is in no rush to jump back into the saddle. The tables are quickly turned, however, when a mafia-type crew clad in black from head to toe abducts Talley from his car. They handcuff Talley to his steering wheel and tell him to look in his rearview mirror. As he is restrained further for "his own protection," he is horrified to see his wife and child held captive in a van parked behind his. His mission is simple: he must retrieve a disk from the Smith house, which we are told is of great importance to the bad guys in question. Talley has no choice but to cooperate, and thus takes on the incredibly arduous task of attempting to save both his family and the Smiths without clueing anyone in to his double duty.
I am convinced that this movie would not have worked as well without Willis as the protagonist. In "Hostage" he has brought back the "Die Hard" lone lawman we've all come to know and love, but he has left the wisecracks at home and let his emotional side shine through. The scene in which we see Willis' reaction as he sees his family bound and gagged from a distance is one of the most genuine moments in film that I've ever seen. His muffled screams and tears of pain and anguish are moving and sincere. Most films don't give their resident tough guy the opportunity to show his pain-most likely because they fear that it will emasculate their hero-but "Hostage" recognizes the humanity of its characters and is not afraid to let its hero cry.
One aspect of the film that I felt was unnecessary was its brutality. By the time the credits started rolling at the film's close the body count was rather hefty, and most of these weren't quick deaths either-they resonated. Much of the film also seemed logistically contrived. For instance, Tommy Smith is able to contact Talley throughout the hostage crisis by using his sister's cell phone and scurrying through a perfectly suitable ventilation system. This works only because the plot allows it to, but Tommy's interaction with Talley is heartfelt, and like most of the film, I am able to see past the flaws and focus on its heart.