Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington, Jim Sturgess, Ryan Kwanten

Directed By: Daniel Alfredson

"Two ways a man can be RICH in this world; he can be rich or have friends, but not both". Wise words spoken by beer magnate Alfred Henry ‘Freddy’ Heineken to one of his abductors when he was kidnapped and kept in solitary confinement.

We surely love a chilled beer in these summer months, and while we have a choice out there, lets remember the Dutch man who gave us Heineken – the beer as we know it. Superbly refreshing and just the fizz we need while we watch his biography on screen.

Anthony Hopkins stars as Freddy Heineken in this action feature adaptation of his true life kidnapping. The story is rather simple. In between 9 and 30 November 1983, a group of five cash-strapped childhood buddies kidnaps the owner of Dutch beer brand Heineken at gunpoint in broad daylight on the streets of Amsterdam. The five hold him for ransom, making a demand which in that time was regarded as the highest ransom 35 million Dutch guilders (about 16 million Euros) ever paid for such a crime. The slightly boring part begins when his captors spend hours bickering and whining about what to do next with the billionaire and his driver Ab Doderer who is also abducted and kept in an adjoining room. The story then follows how the police tried to catch the kidnappers, the daring execution of the ransom and the ultimate finale. The crime was reported for weeks in newspapers and around the world, with the kidnappers taking care of their prisoners outside of their regular working hours. The police sadly had no clue that the kidnappers were infact lurking around in their backyard.

Hopkins is strong in the few scenes where he portrays the angry, confused beer baron. The rest of the cast give out good performances keeping with their involvement in the story.

This is a very good suspenseful action thriller. A typical kidnapping movie, unpredictable at times, but very entertaining too.  Get your beer drinking pals together, down a few beers (maybe Heineken) while you watch the story of this brewery tycoon unfold. This happened 32 years ago... you probably were in high school at the time and knew nothing of this until watching the movie.

Rating: *****

Reviewed By Verus Ferreira