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Written by: Evan Hunter [as Ed McBain] (novel 'King's Ransom"), Akira Kurosawa & Hideo Oguni & Ryûzô Kikushima and Eijirô Hisaita (based on Akira Kurosawa's film 'High and Low' written by), Alan Fox (screenplay)
Directed by: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, Rick Fox
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
When a titan music mogul is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.
Verdict
It's a well made and directed movie with a sharp script that's engaging from the beginning. Denzel is always charming, here playing David King. What gives this depth is the moral question that prompts speculation. What would you do in King's situation? He has to weigh his legacy, aspirations, and the value of life against each other. What would you sacrifice for your son? What would you sacrifice for someone else's son? I do question the culprit that doesn't seem likely to have executed such an elaborate plan.
Watch It.
Review
This is unmistakably set in Brooklyn, New York. David King (Denzel Washington) is a top music executive with a very nice condo, a driver Paul (Jeffrey Wright) with whom he's very close, and a wife that donates half a million to charity where she's the board chair. David sold his music label years ago and now wants it back. He's frustrated seeing it decline and primarily doesn't want it bought by a rival. He's risking everything to pull the money together and buy his company back.
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| Denzel Washington plays David King |
That's when David gets a call that his son has been kidnapped. He's willing to do whatever it takes, however much money it takes. If that means parting with all of the money for his business deal, his son is worth it. The catch is that the kidnapper took Paul's son. The boys are best friends and the kidnapper mixed them up. Despite the mix up the kidnapper still wants David to pay. Everyone beseeches David to pay anyway, but David knows it's the end of his business venture to buy his label back. He'll be struggling to pay back that money for the rest of his life. There's no way Paul could ever pay back that debt. If David refuses, what will the public say? He's in a hole. He has to pay. What else can you do? Otherwise he's putting a price on life, and he'll end up looking like a bad guy and resented.
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| Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright play David King, Paul |
The kidnapper wants David to pay in Swiss notes. The reason is that one Swiss bill is worth ten American bills. David only has to transport 35 pounds instead of 350. This kidnapper seems quite adept, from the currency request to the multiple hand offs with the bag drop. It's an exciting moment as the money bag disappears amidst a Puerto Rican Day Parade. What later seems incongruous is when we meet the kidnapper. He doesn't seem like someone with the means to orchestrate such a ransom. How would he, or for that case anyone, know about the Swiss bills trick?
Paul's son is returned and David is out a lot of money. It's then quite convenient that David just happens to hear the song Paul's son described during his captivity. Paul has enough connections to track the hopeful rapper, and the two plan to get the money themselves. They're not content to wait for the police who are disinterested in David's new clue.
This explores the moral question of how much do you value life. David certainly values his son more than Paul's son, but he can't say that and he can't abandon Paul's son especially since he's a public figure and would be ridiculed. On the other side I'm sure Paul hated to ask David to pay the ransom for his son, but just as David would do anything for his son, Paul would do the same for his.
The end of the movie compares David's thinking to earlier in the movie. He wants to pursue a new record label that's about music more than money. Instead of an easy payday, he wants to focus on the music and the art.
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