Love and Hostages

I just bought an Amazon Fire Stick and wanted to test it out and sort the settings. I selected the first film that came up for a two minute test and ended up watching the whole show.

Its an original story and all the relatively unknown actors (to me) were first rate. I really enjoyed it and have been surprised that, although the cast have in the main, worked a bit tat they are not better known. I've seen a lot worse films with big stars in them. A rare find. Recommended viewing.

I RARELY write reviews, because for the most part, there aren't that many movies that are enjoyable enough to recommend. I borrow LOTS of DVDs from my local library and 95% of them are not worth the time of the day.

Here, however, I got lucky as "Love and Hostages" is truly a refreshingly original movie. It explores many avenues of single life and single dating via a wonderfully original story line.

The first thing I did after this movie ended, was go on line and purchase a copy. The second thing I did, you are reading now.

If you are single and have had numerous adventures trying to find that one right person, I believe you will have fun watching this movie.

I just saw "Love and Hostages" at a film festival over the weekend, and the more I think back to the picture, the more I like what I saw. This is because it offered such an original plot and likable characters, I think it would make a perfect date night film. It's not a film for kids, as the plot is a bit too adult, but for folks looking for a nice romantic comedy, you'd be hard pressed to find something better!

When the film begins, Michael (Randall Core) awakens in bed with a beautiful nude woman wrapped up in the blanket beside him in bed. He also is naked...and realizes it when he looks under the covers! While this would seem like a good thing, he is shocked because he has no idea who she is nor how he got there! He's embarrassed and simply wants to get out of there. You see him quickly get dressed and is about to leave the woman a note...but thinks better of it and just leaves. As soon as he leaves, Ava (Natalie Stavola) hops out of bed. She'd been pretending to be asleep because she too was embarrassed and had no idea who this man was nor how he got into her bed! When she walks into her living room, however, she is shocked...as although she heard the man leave, he's now sitting on her couch! What is going on here and why is the man still there?! Well, after yelling at him and telling him to leave, she opens her apartment door and realizes exactly why he's there...there is a hostage situation in the apartment across from hers and the police have ordered everyone to stay in their homes until the man is captured! Not surprisingly, this makes for some very awkward and tense moments for the pair...since neither one seems to be able to remember the name of the other! While all this sounds a bit slutty, the writers did a great job of explaining the situation and explaining how all this occurred. And, both people are really, really nice and likable folks...not the sort of people to get drunk and plop into bed at the drop of a hat (or pants!). The problem is that they are both at each other's throats...so much so that seeing them fall in love seems really, really unlikely!

I loved pretty much everything about this film. While you have a general idea how a film like this must end, the journey there is the key...and "Love and Hostages" managed do this wonderfully. Very well written characters, cute and surprising plot twists as well as an overall freshness make this a film worth your time. This means that the director (David Vargas) and writer (Javier Mayol) really were at the top of their game...as were the stars and supporting cast. The quality of this indie movie is very surprising, actually, as the film has a very humble pedigree. Like a few very successful recent movies (such as "What We Do in the Shadows"), it is a crowd funded project and cost a paltry $50,000 to make! And yet, I enjoyed it far more than most of the mega-produced, big-budgeted Hollywood films I've seen in recent years.

So how can you see this movie? Well, unfortunately, it's still doing the film festival circuit and unless you can make it to one of these showings, you may have a to wait a few months until it's widely available. In the meantime, keep updated by checking their webpage (loveandhostagesmovie.com), Facebook or Instagram. I will also try to update this article as well when the film is released to the general public.

I found this film to be never less than entertaining and in many was fascinating for simplicity of concept (why didn't I think of this) and professionalism of execution. It is the type of story that within the first few frames you understand the journey and this should be attributed to the director's "economy" of shots and not a predictable story. The tale of a couple that goes from a one night stand to captives, a sort of collateral damage situation from a nearby hostage crisis, it maneuvers quite deftly between comedy, drama and sometimes very effective pathos. Carl Rimi is a standout as the brother of the male "hostage," a sort of Greek Chorus if you will that finds the perfect note of the character and plays him to perfection. Randall Core as Michael does a fine job though I might have toned down some of his more excitable moments and Natalie Stavola shows incredible promise. Hopefully she has already graduated to bigger projects. I would say the same about Sheena Colette who was on screen entirely too short! She's a find. It's a fun picture that doesn't hide its indie credentials and doesn't pretend to it's something it is not. Are there tonal missteps, a few, do certain secondary players forget the secondary, sure. But there is nothing here for anyone to be embarrassed by and much to be proud of.

The actual film description is enticing. Two people are forced to stay locked down in an apartment after a one-night-stand, and neither of them can remember what happened, let alone the other's name. I thought some of the camera work (particularly the close ups) were strategic, but the movie itself didn't make a mark.

The first 30 minutes of the film were just filled with the "couple" arguing. It really felt like you were watching two drama kids showcase a skit. The main actress is quite pretty, but the way she delivered her lines was infuriating.

Some of the flashback scenes of the couple's date night were fun to watch, but overall I have to recommend that people skip this. I couldn't really relate to any character or root for their success.