Taglines: Someone is going to pay.
Ransom movie storyline. Tom Mullen is a millionaire, he built his fortune by working hard. Along the way he learned how to play the game. He has a great family. One day his son is kidnapped. He is willing to pay the ransom but decides to call in the FBI, who manages to go into his home secretly. When he goes to make the drop something goes wrong. The kidnapper calls him again and reschedules it. On the way Mullen decides not to go and appears on TV saying that the ransom he was going to give to the kidnapper is now a bounty on the kidnapper.
Ransom is a 1996 American crime thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Richard Price and Alexander Ignon. The film stars Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise, Brawley Nolte, Delroy Lindo, Liev Schreiber, Evan Handler, Donnie Wahlberg, and Lili Taylor. Gibson was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
The original story came from a 1954 episode of The United States Steel Hour titled “Fearful Decision”. In 1956, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume into the feature film Ransom!, starring Glenn Ford, Donna Reed, and Leslie Nielsen. The film was also influenced by Ed McBain’s police procedural novel King’s Ransom. The film was a major financial success, becoming the 6th highest-grossing film of 1996 in the United States.
About the Story
While multi-millionaire Tom Mullen and his wife Kate attend a science fair, their son Sean is kidnapped. Sean is taken to an apartment by Maris, a caterer for the Mullens, along with criminals Clark, Cubby and Miles, and Detective Jimmy Shaker, Maris’s boyfriend and the mastermind behind the kidnapping. Tom and Kate receive an e-mail from the kidnappers demanding $2,000,000.
Tom calls the FBI, who begin operating from his New York City penthouse under Special Agent Lonnie Hawkins. In private, Tom voices his belief that a union machinist, Jackie Brown, who is in prison following one of Mullen’s business scandals, may have been behind it. They visit Brown in prison, but he angrily denies any involvement with the kidnapping.
Tom agrees to the FBI’s instructions for delivering the ransom. Receiving a phone call from Shaker, who is electronically disguising his voice, Tom follows his instructions. He meets Cubby in a New Jersey quarry but refuses to hand the money over when Cubby fails to give him the directions Shaker had promised him. A fight ensues and the FBI intervene and shoot Cubby.
He dies before he can reveal Sean’s location. Shaker later arranges another drop off. While Tom initially agrees to take the money alone, he realizes there is no guarantee Sean will be returned alive and instead appears on television to offer the ransom as a bounty on the kidnappers’ heads, promising to withdraw the bounty and drop all charges if the kidnappers return his son alive and unharmed.
Despite the pleadings of Kate and FBI Special Agent Lonnie Hawkins, Tom sticks to his plan, believing it is the best chance of having Sean returned. Shaker lures Kate to a meeting where he tells her to pay the ransom or Sean will die. Tom responds by increasing the bounty to $4,000,000. Shaker calls Tom and demands to be paid, but Tom still refuses, and Shaker fires a gunshot after Tom hears Sean scream for help, leading Tom and Kate to believe their son is dead.
Clark and Miles attempt to abandon the plan and flee, but Shaker calls in the NYPD to request backup and kills both of his men while making it look like Miles shot first, and kills Maris after she shoots him in the arm from behind. The NYPD arrive and find Shaker with Sean, believing Shaker found and rescued the boy. Hawkins informs Tom and Kate and they are reunited with their son while Shaker is hospitalized. Tom also recognizes Maris.
Ransom (1996)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise, Delroy Lindo, Lili Taylor, Liev Schreiber, Donnie Wahlberg, Evan Handler, Nancy Ticotin, Michael Gaston
Screenplay by: Richard Price, Alexander Ignon
Production Design by: Michael Corenblith
Cinematography by: Piotr Sobocinski
Film Editing by: Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Costume Design by: Rita Ryack
Set Decoration by: Susan Bode
Art Direction by: John Kasarda
Music by: James Horner
MPAA Rating: R for graphic, bloody violence and strong language.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: November 8, 1996
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