Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015)

Why so much hype?

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The title says it all: "The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken." Director Daniel Alfredson's take on the 1982 abduction of the Dutch brewing magnate breaks no new ground. However, the film is engrossing and well paced, despite an evident low-budget European production. Based on real events, the movie depicts a kidnapping that resulted in the largest ransom ever paid for a single individual. Set in Amsterdam, five down-on-their-luck buddies seemingly concoct the abduction and a preliminary bank robbery without a great deal of deep thought or careful planning. Somewhat surprisingly, a man of Heineken's immense wealth is taken easily, and the first-time criminals have beginner's luck all around. However, the ransom payment is dragged out, and tensions erupt among the men.While Anthony Hopkins plays the small part of Alfred "Freddy" Heineken convincingly, when shackled in a cell, he displays familiar flashes of Hannibal Lector. Although Sam Worthington and Jim Sturgess head the kidnappers, most of the faces are lesser known, but, like Hopkins, all acquit themselves nicely. The film is better than average, and, with a fairly short running time, introduces viewers unfamiliar with the crime to some of the details, despite accusations of inaccuracy. "The Kidnapping of Mr. Heineken" moves fast, is worth a look, and will keep most viewers entertained.

For Once, Film Critics and Audiences Agreed across the board that this is one of the most Boring Crime Films Ever Produced on this level. The Acting, Action, and Story are so Literal and Lackluster one wonders Who Thought this Thing was worth Making or Releasing.It is so Matter of Fact and Unexciting. The Robbery to get the Money to Finance the Kidnapping is Frantic, Hyper-Edited with Everyone Shouting and Flailing about. It is just Painful to Watch.Then the Bickering starts to fulfill the "Mr. Heineken" Tagline. "One can have Money or Friends, but can't have both." Wow. How's that for Deep. All Backstories of All Involved in the Plot Dangle and Go Nowhere.The Film is Rendered with a Confusing Conclusion after the 90 Awful Minutes it took to get there. No Closure to Speak of as if the Filmmakers were in a Hurry to get it all Over with as Little Explanation and Ambiguity as Possible. No Suspense, Mysteries Hanging Everywhere, and the Audience Leaves Wondering WTF just happened? The Story, the Actors, and Everyone Involved in Making or Watching this Movie Deserves to be Served Something with More Gusto.

Review: I really wasn't a big fan of this film because it's really slow and the storyline isn't that great. Its about 4 childhood friends who are in some financial problems so they come up with a bright idea, to kidnap Freddy Heineken for a huge ransom. I know that this ridiculous idea was plotted in 1988 so there wasn't security cameras everywhere like there is today but I really don't know how they thought that they were going to get away with such a huge heist. They seemed to be making it up as they went along and they didn't figure out a what they were going to do with the money until the end, which seemed a bit strange. For entertainment, it wasn't that great because the 4 childhood buddies seemed to be bickering most of the time and the money didn't really bring any joy to there life's. You didn't get to see what happened from the investigating point of view so the police kept on popping up out of the blue, without much explanation. Anthony Hopkins played his part well, as usual, but the 4 main characters didn't really bring intensity to such a difficult situation, which is mostly due to the writing. I'm sure that the money that they robbed to fund the kidnapping, could have cleared up some of there debt so I didn't have much sympathy for the dumb criminals. At the end of the day, it was blatant greed that pushed this guys on the run so they got everything that they deserved. Average!Round-Up: Sam Worthington has made some weird films since his big role in Avatar! He's had roles in Clash & Wraith of the Titans, which wasn't that bad but Termination Salvation wasn't that great. Since then, he's had some small projects like Sabotage, which was pretty average and Man on a Ledge which was also average but with some more Avatar movies in the pipeline, he really is set up for life. His acting style isn't the greatest but he has made some decent choices so at 38 years old, he really hasn't done too bad since making his debut in Hart's War in 2002. Anyway, the director of this movie Daniel Alfredson, also directed the Girl Who Played With Fire and the Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, which were no way as good as the original and he has made quite a few TV series so he hasn't made that many movies for the big screen. He could have done a better job with this film, especially with Hopkins commitment to the project but the concept was interesting, as it's based on true events.I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama movies about a group of childhood friends who come up with a plan to kidnap Mr. Heineken for a hefty ransom, to help them out of there financial difficulties. 4/10

This based upon a true story.Amsterdam, 1983, five construction workers go the bank for a loan to help revive their company, but are turned down. They are at a loss what to do when one of them says they should kidnap Freddy Heineken (Anthony Hopkins), the beer tycoon and get the ransom money. We see the planning, and execution of this plan, which is quite good for these amateurs. They kidnap Mr. Heineken and his chauffeur, Ab (David Denick) and both are well-treated with no harm coming to them. Mr Heineken makes some demands to make his "stay" more comfortable and he gets his way. The rest of the movie shows the five stressing about not getting the money as quickly as they planned. These actors are basically unknown to us and they do a good job. The main problem with this story is a lack of tension. They treat Mr. Heinekin and Ab in good fashion and since we know the ransom will be paid (at the time this was the most money ever paid for a kidnapping: 16-million Euros) we don't see any suspense on the horizon, and we are comfortable with it. What we don't know is how they slipped up and got caught. We have our suspicions how this happened, but we were wrong (as usual) and we are told what happened when the credits run at the end. One fairly good line comes out of this by Mr Heineken as he tries to talk his way out of bondage and he says, "there are two ways a man can be rich in this world; he can have a lot of money or he can have a lot of friends. But he cannot have both." Anthony Hopkins' screen time is short but he makes the most of it and does an excellent job as usual. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, some not too much.