In the fictitious South American Country of Tecala, an American engineer Peter Bowman (David Morse) is a victim of a random kidnapping by a anti-government terrorist group.   Since Peter's company is in the midst of being taken over by a huge conglomerate, the company's insurance will not cover the ransom demands. The negotiating specialist (Russell Crowe) brought in by the company finds that the conglomerate has an alternate negotiating company so he is out of the picture, to the dismay of Peter's wife (Meg Ryan) because while she is getting the runaround and BS by the governments and companies involved, Terry (Crowe) was the only person to give her the straight info. Terry decides to help on his own and teams up with friend and competitor (David Caruso) who is a client of an Italian hostage held by the same terrorist group.

In spite of the convoluted story line this film did a good job of holding my attention. Mainly due to the male actors performances, Crowe, Morse and Caruso, it is a testosterone driven drama. Meg Ryan was a bit schizophrenic, sometimes not believable as the harried wife.   The people playing the terrorists were buffoonish and downright silly at times. The best parts of this film were the Ecuadorian scenics, the rain-forests and the mountains.

Rated R for violence and language

My grade - B-

Other Grades


Hardware.......B (Bondlike)

Ryan......Eyes A, Acting B

Cinematography......A

Story......C-

"The moment I saw you, I had an idea you had an idea."
---Claudette Colbert.... ~MIDNIGHT~