Held Hostage (2009/Image DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Feature: C-
Julie
Benz has a likable screen presence. From
her Buffy/Angel work to role on Dexter,
she has remained viable and is a good screen presence. Trying to do something different, she plays a
working mom whose job at a bank makes her the target for kidnapping and worse
in Grant Harvey’s TV movie Held Hostage
(2009), loosely based on a true story of Michele, a woman who was made the
victim by the kidnappers and her employer.
The
problem is that this telefilm does not know if it wants to be a thriller, make
the big statement about her abuse all around or just coast on the idea (like
99% of such projects no matter where they come from) of being “based on a true
story” which is a cheap way to be lazy and tell your audience to do the
same. Benz gives a good performance, but
that cannot save the high unevenness and many issues the teleplay has in
deciding where it is going and what it wants to be. Too bad because there is something to say
about all this, but Held Hostage
does not have the guts or at least healthy cynicism to do so. Bruce McGill also stars.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is softer than expected with lots of motion blur, poor
color and other detail limits. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix is really stretching the low budget, simple stereo sound. Extras include a look at making the telefilm.
- Nicholas Sheffo
