Kidnapping Freddy Heineken

Director: Daniel Alfredson
Writer: William Brookfield
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington, Ryan Kwanten, Jemima West
Country: UK / Netherlands / Belgium
Rating: 15
Running time: 95 mins
Release date: In theatres and online now

On paper, it seemed to be the perfect plan. A taut British script; a trendy Scandinavian director; a remarkable true story; and a cast that boasts Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington and Jim Sturgess. KIDNAPPING FREDDY HEINEKEN promised a lot, and stashed somewhere deep within it there remains a thrilling and intelligent independent drama. Unfortunately, however, the film’s true value is lost in a blur of derivative chase sequences, nonsensical accents and dodgy 80’s haircuts.

Following the global success of the THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO franchise, Daniel Alfredson’s English language debut follows the dramatic events that captivated much of Europe during the final months of 1983, when Freddy Heineken, the billionaire owner of Heineken beer, was – you guessed it – kidnapped by five unemployed Dutch nationals. Heineken was held for three weeks, before a world record ransom of over 35 million Dutch guilders (16 million Euros) was eventually handed over. Within two years, however, all of Heineken’s captors had been arrested, and some – though by no means all – of his money recovered.

At its heart, however, Alfredson’s film aspires to be more than your regular crime drama – it wants to be a human drama about a crime that goes wrong. Indeed, the message of the film is expertly delivered to us by Hopkins midway through the kidnapping, as Heineken taunts his jailors with a Hannibal-esque repose, telling them, “there are two ways a man can be rich in this world: he can have a lot of money or he can have a lot of friends. But he cannot have both.” Told exclusively from the perspective of the criminals, the audience isn’t treated to the usual recipe of detectives and trailed breadcrumbs. Instead, the film’s drive comes from the relationships between the five young friends who, down on their luck and desperate for money, overstretch themselves to a crime far beyond their limited capabilities. These aren’t master criminals – in fact, they can barely work a photocopier. As they wait nervously for their payout, Heineken corrupts everything that was once good about them. And by the end of their story, fear, guilt and greed have left them with nothing.

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For the best part of its 90-minute runtime, however, the film seems scared to accept its own strengths. Structurally, it’s never going to match the plotting of stories told from a police perspective. Yet, rather than indulge the dramatic characters created in William Brookfield’s script, the film plays to a very low common denominator. Character development is repeatedly given up in favour of stock action scenes – we get a bank robbery complete with Halloween masks, a shoot out in a tunnel and a car chase around the Amsterdam canals before we can even remember our protagonists’ names. The dialogue has been deemed so unimportant that each actor speaks in his or her own natural accent – be it English, Australian, Dutch or Swedish – and every scene lacking either Hopkins or a gun has been cut to within an inch of its life. To make matters worse, Alfredson has covered his film in a dull 80’s sheen that at times clashes with Sturgess’ luminous hair. The effect isn’t slick or atmospheric so much as dizzying.

Unfortunately, what we end up with is a film caught between two competing ambitions. Those looking for an action thriller will be disappointed – this is, after all, a low-budget European co-production, incapable of competing with the kind of sequences we’ve come to expect from the Studios, and totally unsuited narratively to the fast-paced style of the edit. Yet, in trying to mimic the success of Hollywood thrillers, the filmmakers have successfully carved out the independent heart of their own project. And, despite being the first UK release to employ Empire’s new Super Ticket system, where cinema-goers are entitled to a free digital purchase with each cinema ticket, the film has performed well below expectations at the box office.

There is a great story in here, not to mention one typically mesmerising performance from Hopkins, yet ultimately the film lacks the conviction needed to succeed in this market. And so, much like our anti-heroes, we’re left ruing what could have been. You see, you can have a lot of characters, or you can have a lot of action. But in this case, you can’t have both.

Verdict

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