Movie Haiku - Hostage & Hitch

Hostage
Dir: Florent Siri
Cast: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollack, Jonathan Tucker

Makes deal to save kids
other crooks need disc in house
kidnap wife and child

So Bruce is back doing what he does best, the action movie, but unfortunately this is no Die Hard. It's an intriguing enough set-up; Bruce is the negotiator who is called to a situation when three young lads break into this rich family's house and end up taking them hostage. However they've chosen the wrong house on the wrong night, as the father (Pollack) is working with some shady Mafia types who just happen to need a disc which is hidden on the premises. Convoluted? Yes. So basically what happens is that the Mafia bosses kidnap Bruce's own family, so that they can control him to make sure that nothing happens until they get their precious disc back. Let's be honest, it's treading on thin ground here, especially as we're given little background into who these Mafia types are or what their business involves. Still, what it does do is to provide plenty of tension for the duration of the film, and newcomer Siri makes a decent attempt to keep things moving along, throwing in a couple of unexpected twists along the way, especially with the trio of budding criminals. The action scenes are fine, although things get a little silly when all parties meet for a final mash-up in the now burning building... but I'm in a generous mood here, it's worth a look if you're into that sort of thing.

soulmining rating: ***

Hitch
Dir: Andy Tennant
Cast: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta

He helps guys get dates
but own lovelife is nightmare
stop wacky dancing

This came as something of a pleasant surprise - Will Smith in a light, fluffy comedy role. And he's pretty good at it too, he should try it more often instead of all those wise-cracking action roles. This is pretty simple stuff, but very likeable and funny at the same time. Smith plays the "date doctor" who helps guys to get the dates they're after, like Albert (James) with his supermodel client (Valletta). Hey, it's a movie... you can't help rooting for this particular relationship to work and it's a shame these two characters don't get more screen time in all honesty. Smith's own relationship with reporter Mendes is less involving, but the irony (of course) is that he's pretty useless when it comes to managing his own lovelife. Anyway, you can probably predict the rest, and you'd be right. Good fun viewing, nothing more, nothing less. Loses points for a "wacky" scene of all the cast dancing during the closing credits which is just not funny. At all.

soulmining rating: ***