It’s hard out here for a parent, especially a mother of three. The basic necessities it requires to properly care for another human being is insurmountable and time-consuming. Even for a spilt second, if you take your eyes off of a child, they can disappear. And that’s exactly what happened to Halle Berry in her latest thriller, “Kidnap.”
In the film, where Berry also serves as a producer, Karla Dyson (Berry) is on a day-long manhunt to rescue her son from capturers. She is literally fighting to regain custody of her young son, Frankie (Sage Correa), who was abducted during a family outing.
Since “Taken” (2008), every abduction movie is the same. Child gets abducted. Parent goes on a crazy killing spree. Parent finds child. They live happily every after. As redundant and repetitive as the plot seems, “Kidnap” was a little different. There were many twists and turns filled with unforeseen plot-fillers. I thoroughly enjoyed how the film broke up the monotony and made the terrifying storyline realistic.
What did not impress me was Berry’s overall performance. Is it just me or have Berry’s roles been stagnant? She went from overtop in one scene to super bland in the very next scene. Her inconsistencies were evident and makes me think we have already seen the best of Halle Berry.
Arguably, Berry is not starring in as many films as she used to. So, “Kidnap” might just be her way of easing back onto the scene.
The movie has made-for-TV written all over it, or at least a Netflix original. “Kidnap” seems like a small-town movie and not a blockbuster film.
Overall, “Kidnap” is surprisingly tolerable, at least far better than I ever expected. Any parent can relate to the many lengths one person would go to get their child back. The movie is not only relatable, but it is realistic. A very scary scenario, like a kidnapping, is played out with force and finesse of an actual mother struggling to recover her stolen child.
“Kidnap” is in theaters August 4.
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