Thomas W___ The movie is limited by the small number of characters and set locations. It's a bit contrived and perhaps a bit exploitative. It certainly has its twists and surprises, which are the fun of it. Heck, even the title of the film is a spoiler.

Robert J. Maxwell It's a kind of tour de force for a crime thriller. Two men who are lovers, the young Martin Compston and the dominant older Eddie Marsan, kidnap the young woman who is the daughter of some filthy rich magnate and demand a quick ransom while they hold her captive -- shackled, hooded, and gagged with one of those BSM red balls -- in a shabby room.Those are the only three characters, and there are only two sets.It doesn't sound promising, does it? The girl, probably a virgin, screaming for help as the two brutes ravage her; the torment of the parents; the determination of the police; the recorded phone calls about the ransom; the argument about whether she should be left behind as a witness; bath tubs of gore.But no. The writers have squeezed every ounce of tension out of the story without abandoning those sparse assets. It answers interesting questions too. Suppose the bound, gagged, and hooded victim needs to use the toilet. One of the men brings her a bucket, but she signals frantically with her fingers -- number two. Can she "go" with some stranger watching her? Can't the stranger at least turn around? And when he does so, can't she whack him over the head with the empty bucket and grab his pistol? The answer is yes.Now the victim, Gemma Arterton, has the upper hand, but the second kidnapper may show up at any moment and -- well, what's a girl to do? Then, on top of that, the narrative gets more complicated, too complicated to explain. There are double crosses upon double crosses, so many that I forgot who was aligned with whom in the later intrigues.The script is fine for its genre, not poetic but effective. And the performances are of professional caliber. Gemma Arterton is attractive without being stunningly beautiful or so young as to invite the cheap sympathy we feel when a child is endangered. And she's no virgin either. She's wily as hell.In some ways the most sympathetic character is boyish Compston because he's the most naive. Everyone takes advantage of him despite (or because of) the fact that he's the only character who seems truly capable of love, even with reservations.The most impressive actor is Marsan. He's the authoritarian Loeb who orders Compston's Leopold around. And Marsan's appearance is striking. His forehead is slanted back and his features protrude at odd angles from his skull. He looks like he's wearing a fire plug on his shoulders.All of them prove themselves capable murder and, in the end, they've all demonstrated their capacity for taking the money and running away with it.It's a little like "Dial M For Murder," but more violent and less witty. None of the villains are nearly as suave and good-natured as Ray Milland. And the music here practically spells out "gravitas." There's not a smile in a cartload but it's precisely done.

begob The first bit of dialogue comes after 5 mins: "OK". That's after a great sequence showing two men set up a hideout for what they're about to do. No waiting about - they turn up with a kidnap victim and tie her to the bed in a humiliating process.What follows is of varying quality. I wonder if a lot of the dialogue might have been left out - just convey the action and reactions in the same style as the intro.As it is, this is a simple love triangle (the only relationship between the victim and one of the kidnappers is he knows she knows his name) requiring various twists. Not completely successful, with a few "the stupid, it hurts" moments - but well worth watching.ps. None of the characters actually loves any other, so it's not really a love triangle. That's why the victim and the other kidnapper aren't jealous of each other. Maybe that lack of tension holds the story back, why people keep picking on the twists when it's the characters that cause the dissatisfaction.

tr91 This British thriller film is about Alice Creed who is kidnapped for ransom by two blokes( Vic and Danny), they take her to a flat with soundproof walls and tie her to a bed while they wait for the money from her father. The film is straight to the point.The film gives off a very tense atmosphere in the first 45 minutes or so as we see Vic and Danny overlooking Alice. Some of the scenes are uncomfortable to watch but of course that adds to the tension. Gemma Arterton gives a fantastic performance.I really liked the way this film was going but it took a turn for the worse just over half way through. There ended up being too many twists and turns and in the end it became too far fetched. It was very gripping when they kept it simple, just the 3 of them in the room. Silly decisions were made and all sorts of relationships were discussed and it just became unbelievable. It was too complex when it really didn't need to be.Overall it is a good watch but I feel it had potential to be an excellent film had they kept it simple.7/10.