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Lawrence Douglas has inherited some money, but when he tries to collect it from his uncle Donald Pleasance, Donald tries to kill him. When that doesn't work, he sells him off to slavery on a ship headed for the colonies. Such is the Robert Louis Stevenson story Kidnapped.
As far as period pieces go, this isn't a very good one. Yes, the scenery is very beautiful, but it looks like every character popped up out of the '70s—which, let's face it, they did. Veteran actors Jack Hawkins and Trevor Howard take supporting roles, but they aren't really enough to save the movie. I got a kick out of the reversal of fortune, though; ten years earlier, Michael Caine had small roles in films starring Jack Hawkins, and in Kidnapped, the billing was reversed.
Michael Caine fans won't be very happy with this movie; they'd be better off watching the other Robert Louis Stevenson adaptation Jekyll & Hyde, in which he does a very good job. He doesn't really add anything to the role—but then again, neither does anyone else in the cast—and he has an extremely muddled accent. It wasn't until he greeted Vivien Heilbron by calling her "Lassie" did I realize he was attempting a Scottish accent! Unless your absolute favorite genre of films is swashbuckling pirate movies, you might not want to sit through this one, especially since there really aren't too many swashbuckling pirates in the film.
score 3/10
HotToastyRag 5 December 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3875048/ |
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18-3-2021 00:07:16