Synopsis
The true story of the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, the grandson of the founder of the Heineken brewery, and his driver. They were released after a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders was paid.
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Cast
- Anthony HopkinsFreddy Heineken
- Jim SturgessCor Van Hout
- Sam WorthingtonWillem Holleeder
- Ryan KwantenJan 'Cat' Boellard
- Mark van EeuwenFrans 'Spikes' Meijer
- Thomas CocquerelMartin 'Brakes' Erkamps
- Jemima WestSonja Holleeder
- David DencikAb Doderer
- Vera Van DoorenMa Holleeder
- Kat LindsayKarin
Recommendations
- 75
Observer
Anthony Hopkins plays the king of the hops, and he is excellent. So is the rest of the movie, a sober, no-frills account about the highest ransom ever collected up to that time — $10 million and counting. - 50
Movie Nation
It’s a good looking film, just a tad on the dull and predictable side. But the occasional flash of Hopkins threatens, at several moments, to turn this formulaic true-heist tale into something more psychological, more pathological or at least allegorical. He isn’t really given the chance. - 42
The Playlist
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken never conveys how a bunch of working stiffs transformed themselves into a coiled — if scrappy and ragtag — criminal operation. - 40
Village Voice
Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington, and True Blood's Ryan Kwanten co-star in this glossy, lifelessly paced edition as three of the criminals, though their underwritten personas and motivations are fairly interchangeable. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
By the time the relatively brief but seemingly interminable proceedings reach their conclusion, viewers may feel like they've been held hostage themselves. - 40
Arizona Republic
The utter lack of surprises and waste of a first-rate cast — Anthony Hopkins as Alfred "Freddy" Heineken; Jim Sturgess and Sam Worthington as kidnappers — make for a tremendous letdown. - 40
The Dissolve
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken isn’t a comedy of incompetence, or the psychological battle of wills its opening scene suggests. It’s hard to see exactly what the filmmakers were going for, beyond bringing a real-life story to the big screen as dutifully and dully as possible. - 38
Slant Magazine
For all the thematic emphasis the script ultimately places on the allegedly thick bonds among these men, it's surprising how often they communicate solely through exposition.
