An average movie

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick. Indeed, it had a pretty lousy reputation but since I have a weak spot for Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan, I thought I should give it a try. To my surprise, it turned to be a rather decent thriller. Basically, it is one of those movies which got a bad rep not because it was actually bad but because of all the shenanigans surrounding the production. Indeed, while making this flick, Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe had an affair and, as a result, she ended up divorcing Dennis Quaid after 10 years of marriage. It was not the kind of publicity this movie was asking for and it turned out to be a flop and the romance between Ryan and Crowe was really short-lived so you really wonder if it was worth starting with it at all. Russell Crowe's career seems to have recovered from the blow whereas Meg Ryan's is pretty much done at this point. What about the movie then? It is actually a mildly entertaining thriller directed by Taylor Hackford who is definitely a competent director. The weird thing is that it deals with a woman looking for a kidnapped husband and she is helped by a negotiator but they slowly fall for each other. Will she end up with the negotiator or with her husband? Considering Ryan and Crowe's common history, the ending was actually rather surprising but still made more sense. To conclude, even though the whole thing was rather pedestrian, I thought it was a decent thriller and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10