Film Review – Kidnap

Managing a career filled with critical and commercial disappointments, Halle Berry found moderate success with 2013’s “The Call,” which required the actress to portray a character largely stuck in a stationary position, directing the survival of a kidnap victim from the pressurized environment of a 911 call center. It was mild exploitation, and it found an audience, reenergizing Berry’s career as Hollywood hunted for another “Taken” situation where a veteran actor could be transformed into mature butt-kicker for an older audience. Berry picks up where she left off in “Kidnap,” which also finds the star in a stationary position directing the survival of a kidnap victim, only here the action largely takes place on interstates, challenging Berry to come up with a commanding characterization that mostly involves a persona talking to themselves and making poor decisions for 90 minutes. “Kidnap” is certainly energetic, but before it gets stupid, it remains very dumb. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com