Title: Kidnapping Mr. Heineken

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington, Jim Sturgess and Ryan Kwanten

People often take pride in all the hard work they put into garnering fame and fortune, particularly when their efforts provide much needed support for their families. But when their persistent work ethic fails to offer them enough money to efficiently provide for their loved ones, they’re often driven to take drastic measures to comfortably sustain them. That’s certainly the case in director Daniel Alfredson’s new action crime drama, ‘Kidnapping Mr. Heineken,’ which is set to be released on Friday on iTunes and VOD and in theaters. The film, which is based on the real-life kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, the chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the brewing company Heineken International, showcases that while the executive’s captors successfully garnered the highest ransom ever paid for one person in Dutch history, their motives weren’t entirely selfish-they were really struggling to provide for their families after their own business devastatingly failed.

Set in Amsterdam in 1983, ‘Kidnapping Mr. Heineken’ follows a group of friends and business partners who are struggling to maintain their company. Determined to provide a better life for themselves and their families, the men become increasingly desperate to find a way to maintain their commerce, after their local bank declines to offer them a much-needed loan. So the leaders of the group, Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington) and Cor Van Hout (Jim Sturgess), who’s romantically involved with his friend’s sister, Sonja (Jemima West), recruit their associates to embark on a high-stakes scheme to make quick money.

Accompanied by Jan ‘Cat’ Boellard (Ryan Kwanten), Frans ‘Spikes’ Meijer (Mark van Eeuwen) and Martin ‘Brakes’ Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel), Willem and Cor set out to kidnap influential local businessman, Freddy Heineken (Sir Anthony Hopkins), who previously employed Willem and Sonja’s father for years. With their personal connection to the beer brewer’s Chairman and CEO, Willem, Cor and their cohorts are privy to beneficial information on when and where they can most easily kidnap him and his driver, Ab Doderer (David Dencik).

While the businessmen-turned-criminals are initially confident that they’ll easily receive the 35 million Dutch guilders ransom they demanded from Heineken’s company, in exchange for his safe return, the time they wait for a response turns from days into weeks. As Willem, Cor and their accomplices try to maintain a calm and confident attitude about receiving the ransom, while also trying to remain out of public speculation, the once easy dynamic between the group begins to change as they begin to question whether or no their plan will actually work.

Even though Willem, Cor and their friends embarked on numerous immoral and illegal crimes, including eventually receiving the highest paid ransom for one individual in Dutch history, Alfredson intriguingly presented the seemingly ruthless antagonists in ‘Kidnapping Mr. Heineken’ as being motivated by harrowingly relatable dire circumstances. From not being able to secure money to fix their struggling business, which they so desperately wanted to do in order to morally provide for their families, to the doubts about going through with their plan when they don’t receive the ransom money as soon as they expected, the director effortlessly ponders the question of how moral corrupt the kidnappers truly were when they initially devised their plan.

The actors all interestingly presented their respective characters as experiencing distinct ideas about how to best execute their plan once they actually secured Heineken and Doderer in their cells in the shed Jan acquired for the scheme. Worthington not only authoritatively embodied the strong and intimidating physical stance of the fearless Willem, but also commanded undisputed respect and allegiance from Cor and their other associates. While the actor rivetingly presented the group’s at-times merciless leader as not allowing emotions to interfere with achieving his seemingly selfish goals, he was mainly driven to commit crime, particularly enforcing the kidnapping of his father’s former employer, in the name of providing for his sister and their family.

Although Worthington captivatingly presented the criminals’ leader as mercilessly persistent in obtaining the money they so desperately need to survive, Sturgess and Kwanten truly humanized Cor and Jan throughout the action crime film, as they struggled with their conscience over the pain and suffering they caused Heineken and his family. The two characters initially reveled in the idea of taking money from one of the country’s richest men, in an effort to help themselves remain financially secure. But Cor and Jan then enthrallingly emphasized the moral contentions they began having within themselves and with each other over whether tormenting other people would truly benefit and enrich their own lives.

While Alfredson commanded grippingly emotional performances from the lead actors in ‘Kiddnapping Mr. Heineken,’ in an effort to showcase the captivating portrayal of the harrowing circumstances they contended with as they were trying to improve their lives, the drama also intriguingly featured stunning action sequences that highlighted the dire lengths they went to in order to achieve their goals. The film’s stunt coordinator, Willem de Beukelaer, enthrallingly crafted riveting physical sequences to showcase the extreme measures Willem, Cor and their accomplices took to successfully receive their ransom money. From the intense, high-stakes police chase the group embarked on throughout the streets of Amsterdam, after they robbed a bank so they would have enough money to fund their kidnapping scheme, to the stimulating transfer of the title victim into his captors’ van when they first capture him, de Beukelaer creatively stressed the dangerous and exhilarating measures the antagonists took in order to carry out their plan.

‘Kiddnapping Mr. Heineken’ is the riveting latest action thriller from Alfredson, who’s best known for directing the last two Swedish film adaptations of the Millennium Book Trilogy, ‘The Girl Who Played with Fire’ and ‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.’ Not only did the filmmaker intriguingly cast diverse, yet equally captivating and emotional, actors who compassionately portrayed characters who didn’t rely on respectable actions in order to achieve their honorable intentions, but he also smartly collaborated with the versatile de Beukelaer to achieve gripping and memorable stunts. Between the emotional character arcs and enticing stunts and visual effects, the helmer’s latest action crime drama intriguingly showcases that even the seemingly most heinous criminals can be driven by humane motivations, and the decisions they make in the aftermath of their crimes can be the most revealing insight into their true personalities.

Technical: B+

Written by: Karen Benardello