Hostage

Those words pretty much start off this nine minute BMW commercial with Clive Owen back as "The Driver."

He must race to help a kidnapped victim escape from the trunk of a car with only a cell phone to talk to her.

Famed Hong Kong director John Woo made this film, and that's pretty surprising considering it IS basically one long commercial.

But I'll be darned if it isn't one of the best commercials I've ever seen.

4/5 stars -

John Ulmer

The Plot: Clive Owen ( before he was in "The Bourne Identity," "King Arthur," "Elisabeth: The Golden Age," and "Sin CIty" ) plays a "hire" who drives people places they desperately need to go.

Often times, they are working for something "top secret" and can only give our protagonist limited information.

Also, this is meant to show off the BMW car and is executive-produced by Tony Scott, Ridley Scott and David Fincher ( Panic Room, Alien 3 ).

Directed by John Woo ( The Killer, Hard Boiled and other violent HK films ), this tale involves our hero in some intense exchange that that involves twists and turns. I can't say anything without giving it way nor do I remember it as well as I possibly could so just watch it for what it's worth.

I don't know who in BMW is responsible for the "Hire" series but this is the best advertising I've ever seen. No longer are we bombarded with logos and SELL SELL SELL BUY BUY BUY images. Rather, we get a nifty little story that really doesn't make much sense, but it's all in good fun. Other companies need to try this approach.

You can almost always rely on John Woo to deliver great action... Face/Off and those of his films that were made before he went Hollywood, especially those featuring Chow Yun-Fat(or so I've heard; have only seen Face/Off myself) are great and popular for his unique brand of cool, stylish action. His use of slow-motion in action sequences are especially popular; here, he delivers as well... but one can't help but think about whether or not Woo(or anyone else, for that matter) actually read the script. There are quite an impressive amount of glaringly obvious plot holes for such a short action flick... but I suppose what we're supposed to pay attention to is the car(this is a commercial, after all) and its capabilities... though I think many of them are exaggerated, at least slightly, in this. The acting isn't particularly good, but Clive Owen is still great as The Driver... not that one would expect anything else from him. The action is pretty cool, that I must admit. And it somehow manages to overshadow the numerous holes in the fairly thin plot. All in all, worth a single watch, for car freaks. But not much more. I recommend it to big fans of Woo and the commercials, as well as car fanatics. 7/10

In a world where advertising is rammed down your neck 24/7 bmw have seen the light.they increased their reputation by becoming the bond car and now have used this short film/ad as the ultimate in product placement.If all ads could be like this i would'nt channel surf in the ad breaks.