if he doesn't watch out , mel gibson is in danger of being known as someone other than mad max . of course there are still a few big guns in this film , but <POS> there's some accomplished acting too </POS> . although gibson continues to shed his rough and gritty anti-hero skin as his career progresses , here he explores a new genre : the businessman as action hero . in ron howard's latest film , gibson plays tom mullen , a gazillionaire airline owner whose son is snatched from the junior science fair by kidnappers . mullen at first agrees to pay the ransom , but when things fall apart he rethinks the situation . a veteran of numerous hard-nosed business negotiations , the tycoon realizes that in order to get his son back alive , he has to play his hand differently . <POS> the casting is what puts this film over the top </POS> . the trio of gibson , the kidnappers' mastermind ( gary sinise ) and fbi team leader ( delroy lindo ) <POS> play off of each other wonderfully </POS> . sinise is <POS> perfect </POS> as the driven scheming sleezebag is right on the mark . his speech to mullen over a walkie talkie about h . g . wells' morlocks and eloi reveal his vision of society . mullen and the other glitteratti frolic up on high while sinise and the other lowlifes dwell below , feeding off the unsuspecting . gibson's character is an all-american hero with a few flaws . his cowboy tactics tend to work , but they are also what got him into this situation to begin with . in a round about way , if he weren't known as a man who is willing to buy his way out of trouble , his son wouldn't have been kidnapped . as sinise says " you're a payer . you did it once and now you're going to do it again . " <POS> one of the nicest elements of this film </POS> is that most of the characters <POS> actually have personalities </POS> . lindo calls home to talk to his kids , obviously shaken at working this case . even the kidnappers are real people , arguing about the ultimate fate of sean mullen and feeding him candy bars . gibson's break-down on the balcony of their penthouse apartment <POS> is especially effective . it's one of the best filmed representations of a man's world falling apart that i've seen </POS> . it's not all perfect . the shoot 'em upending , while emotionally satisfying seems tacked on to be just that rather than to provide a powerful resolution . as well crafted as the scene is , we've seen it before . mullen's wife ( rene russo ) <POS> has several good moments </POS> , but occasionally just seems to be there . while adequate , brawley nolte ( sean ) doesn't provide much to the film other than occupying space to build the story around . but you'll ignore these problems as each minute of the movie builds on the previous one . forget about the large coke , you won't want to leave for that five minute break an hour later .
