The special nature of this story is its many climaxes that border on false endings and also how Gibson's character responds to the ransom demand of $2 million.... it is Gibson who sells us on it and sells it well.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 22, 2014

There are more climaxes in here than in a Swedish blue movie. This is not to say you won't be thrilled, charged up and put through the ringer at times, but your intelligence will need to be shoved under your seat like warm, flat soda.

| Jan 22, 2014

That's interesting stuff, but it doesn't play out with a lot of smarts. And the opportunity to end Ransom on a creepy note of unpredictability is forsaken for the usual glass-shattering, bullets-flying finale.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 22, 2014

With a mechanical movie like this, filmmakers -- male or female -- can't take chances. Howard and company are hostages to their own conception.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 22, 2014

Mel Gibson and Rene Russo put an edgy 1990s spin on the roles originally played by Glenn Ford and Donna Reed.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 22, 2014

By the time Tom Mullen has turned into an action superhero in a clumsy climax, Ransom has run out of ideas, and we've lost track of what we felt about a father's frantic efforts to save his son.

| Jan 22, 2014

Its major sin -- a certain ineluctable improbability -- is pretty much offset by the moments of winsome humanity Gibson finds for his freebooter; by the rich, nicely tuned portrayals of the other actors; and by director Ron Howard.

| Jan 22, 2014

A gripping, amoral kidnap thriller.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 22, 2014

If Howard's direction were as stylized and self-aware as Corgan's music, Ransom might be something more than a shallow and unprovocative story of a vigilante with an Achilles' heel.

| Jan 22, 2014

Slick and violent and reasonably tense, Ransom holds your attention without being the least bit interesting.

| Jan 22, 2014

Gibson has always had a mesmerizing dark side (remember his vengefulness in Mad Max?), and when his rage catches fire, so does Ransom.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 7, 2011

A crackerjack thriller with some unusually tasty plot twists, Ransom pays plenty of entertaining dividends.

Full Review | Jul 6, 2010

Howard pushes and probes this rich tension with expert casting, restless camerawork and a fractured editing style.

| Feb 9, 2006

Mr. Howard has made ''Ransom'' in the same clean, swift, logical style that sent his ''Apollo 13'' into orbit, resulting in a spellbinding crime tale that delivers surprises right down to the wire.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 20, 2003

A noxious, nerve-splitting invitation to vigilante rage.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jun 18, 2002

Here's a tension-packed thriller that will shake your head and rattle your brain.

| May 12, 2001

A persuasive thriller for most of its length, it stumbles in its attempt to become an upscale version of Death Wish and other vigilante dramas and ends up derailing with a soft thud.

| Feb 14, 2001

A masterclass in sustained tension, this thriller rarely lets the audience stray from the edge of their seats.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2000

"Ransom" is dark and risky in a way that's become almost unthinkable for mainstream movies in the '90s.

| Jan 1, 2000

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 1, 2000