Ransom (1996)

Thriller in which Mel Gibson and Rene Russo star as the wealthy parents of a boy kidnapped by Gary Sinise and his gang. Rather than pay the $2 million, Gibson's character takes matters into his own hands and creates a bounty for the kidnapper. 

It’s taut if trashy, and it keeps you engaged. Russo and Sinese are watchable, as always, but Gibson is oddly overwrought. It’s partly the character – he plays a loose cannon reckless enough to take the ransom process off-piste and gamble his son’s life in the process – but it’s partly just his odd acting. 

There’s a sort of theme about macho behaviour, with the two male characters trying to dominate each other, but it’s not entirely believable. Gibson simply isn’t convincing as a dad or husband, and he has remarkably little chemistry with Russo. In fact, his character comes across as a total weirdo. (What kind of parent thinks he knows more about kidnap strategy than the FBI?) A plot thread about him having lied to his wife promised to take the film in a more interesting direction – i.e., with the criminal exploiting their divisions to play the couple off against one another – but strangely that possibility isn’t explored beyond an initial hint. Also, it fails my standard test of a film’s quality in that the minor characters are cardboard cut-outs instead of being developed and given their own motivations.  

Slow-motion action sequences are never a good sign in a thriller, and there are too many here. I also found the black-and-white treatment applied to the closing moments a little naff and unnecessary. 

Ron Howard is usually a dependable director, but you can’t help feeling that this one somehow got away from him.

Snake Eyes (1998)

Superb conspiracy thriller directed by Brian De Palma. 

Nicolas Cage stars as a crooked detective at an Atlantic City boxing match when an assassination of the Defence Secretary takes place. He’s there with his best friend – a U.S. Navy Commander (played by Gary Sinise), who knows more about the killing than he initially lets on. Carla Gugino plays an analyst who gets mixed up in the drama. 

It’s brilliantly and flamboyantly directed, from the long, uninterrupted opening shot to the overhead views looking down into the hotel rooms. It’s flashily done, but never at the expense of lucid storytelling. The multiple viewpoint shots used to revisit the crime scene and reveal what really happened were also a nice touch. 

Cage is incredibly magnetic and hugely watchable. There’s so much going on in every moment of his performance that it's really quite remarkable.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Masterful comedy-drama directed by Robert Zemeckis. 

Tom Hanks plays a simple but kindhearted man whose life unexpectedly touches those around him. He also finds himself accidentally woven into key moments in American history of the 1960s and 1970s. 

It’s sweet and touching, romantic and sad. Hanks is perfect in the role – he keeps it on the right side of the endearing/annoying divide. 

As in Back to the Future, Zemeckis handles the storytelling with almost supernatural empathy and skill. The pacing is spot on and there’s not a moment of filler nor a line out of place. He also handles the changes in tone superbly well, so comedy can turn to poignancy without jarring – and vice-versa. 

Robin Wright and Gary Sinise are excellent as the love of his life and his former Vietnam lieutenant and long-standing friend, while Sally Field is wonderful as his wise, caring mother. 

The shaggy-dog story takes in his spell in the army, his time as a table-tennis champion, working on a shrimp boat, and his three years of running across America. 

There’s a message about kindness being more important than anything else, which is hard to disagree with, and a great soundtrack, too.

Apollo 13 (1995)

Ron Howard’s version of the events of April 1970 in which a planned Moon mission goes horribly wrong after an explosion loses vital fuel and oxygen from the craft. Instead of walking on the lunar surface, as they had hoped and dreamed, the three astronauts find themselves in a desperate struggle to return to Earth. 

It’s a taut drama that steadily builds tension. We know that disaster is on the way, so there’s added suspense in waiting for that moment. I especially liked the Mission Control sections, which showed how much of an ingenious team effort the rescue attempt was. 

The casting and acting is spot-on, and makes this film stand out:

• Tom Hanks plays Jim Lovell, from whose memoir this was adapted. Hanks does his usual thing, but it works. His almost bland demeanour seems to match the highly sought after brave-but-calm profile of that of a well-adjusted astronaut.
• Kevin Bacon is perfectly acceptable as backup Command Module pilot Jack Swigert even though this actor is often now seen as a figure of fun.
• Bill Paxton is solid as Lunar Module pilot Fred Haise.
• Kathleen Quinlan is Lovell’s wife, trying to hold it together at home with the kids. The “worried wife” role can’t be a rewarding one for any actor, and too often that part is underwritten (see Deepwater Horizon or The Untouchables), but Quinlan convincingly portrays someone whose personal nightmare becomes a drama watched by the entire world.
• Ed Harris is impressive as the tough but compassionate Flight Director Gene Kranz.
• Gary Sinise is excellent as pilot Ken Mattingly, who misses out on the mission itself but helps the crew by mirroring their predicament in a NASA flight simulator. 

I liked the fact that in the film, as in real life, it wasn’t about luck or heroism or faith or fate. It was science that saved them – a triumph of knowledge and rational thought. A lesson to be learned there for all of us.