Lt Danny Roman is a police negotiator who finds himself accused of murdering a colleague . He believes he's been set up and walks into his local station and takes hostages in order to uncover the truth
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I have a serious problem with this premise since it erases any type of internal logic . I can believe Danny setting all this up in order to uncover the real criminals but moments stretch all credibility . Danny is a negotiator right ? So surely he must know that the police department will talk to him without taking drastic risks unless he starts killing hostages . BANG Danny kills a hostage which means the SWAT guys are going to come crashing through the windows . Except Danny only pretended to kill a hostage thereby playing a trick on the audience . But the fact remains the cops outside think he's killed a hostage and unless he's trying to get himself killed he logically shouldn't have done that and this isn't the only bit where credibility goes astray . I couldn't help but gasp at the stupid ending where Chris Sabian shoots Danny in order to make it look he's gone over to the villains side . Think about it .Chris shot Danny and Danny plays dead . Danny is lying with a bullet in him not making a sound because if the villain thought he was still alive he'd pump few more bullets in him to make sure he's not going to tell tales . If you've not seen the movie yet let me explain that Danny is NOT wearing a bullet proof vest or anything like that and he has a bullet in him . If someone shot you in the stomach would you be physically able to play dead , not move a muscle , not scream in agony ? Danny can and it's yet another example of having to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the film . It's one thing introducing shock twists and turns but not if it damages the credibility of the screenplay
Most people have praised the cast and Samuel L Jackson is every bit as good as you'd expect him to be . Spacey is as bland as always in my opinion and I'm surprised he was ever a highly regarded actor ( Though there's some justice that we see very little output from him these days ) while the supporting cast are just okay hindered possibly by their very two dimensional characters . Opinions about the film itself are very wide ranging with some people think it's a taut exciting twisting thriller while others describe it as a contrived clichéd movie and I'm certainly in the latter camp . As I said this is a movie that quickly falls apart the more you think about it
!!!! SPOILERS !!!!
I have a serious problem with this premise since it erases any type of internal logic . I can believe Danny setting all this up in order to uncover the real criminals but moments stretch all credibility . Danny is a negotiator right ? So surely he must know that the police department will talk to him without taking drastic risks unless he starts killing hostages . BANG Danny kills a hostage which means the SWAT guys are going to come crashing through the windows . Except Danny only pretended to kill a hostage thereby playing a trick on the audience . But the fact remains the cops outside think he's killed a hostage and unless he's trying to get himself killed he logically shouldn't have done that and this isn't the only bit where credibility goes astray . I couldn't help but gasp at the stupid ending where Chris Sabian shoots Danny in order to make it look he's gone over to the villains side . Think about it .Chris shot Danny and Danny plays dead . Danny is lying with a bullet in him not making a sound because if the villain thought he was still alive he'd pump few more bullets in him to make sure he's not going to tell tales . If you've not seen the movie yet let me explain that Danny is NOT wearing a bullet proof vest or anything like that and he has a bullet in him . If someone shot you in the stomach would you be physically able to play dead , not move a muscle , not scream in agony ? Danny can and it's yet another example of having to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the film . It's one thing introducing shock twists and turns but not if it damages the credibility of the screenplay
Most people have praised the cast and Samuel L Jackson is every bit as good as you'd expect him to be . Spacey is as bland as always in my opinion and I'm surprised he was ever a highly regarded actor ( Though there's some justice that we see very little output from him these days ) while the supporting cast are just okay hindered possibly by their very two dimensional characters . Opinions about the film itself are very wide ranging with some people think it's a taut exciting twisting thriller while others describe it as a contrived clichéd movie and I'm certainly in the latter camp . As I said this is a movie that quickly falls apart the more you think about it