King's Ransom starts very weak, continues at a snail's pace, then finally gets interesting with fifteen minutes left. At that point, it's whatever. More than half the movie is weak so the likelihood of a rewatch is extremely slim. While the overwhelming amount of negative reviews online is a little too much for this film, it still comes off as just a poorly made, unfunny comedy.
Anthony Anderson is always one of the highlights in every film he is in. I liked his goofy Louis persona in Kangaroo Jack, his idiotic antics in Malibu's Most Wanted stood out from the entire film, and most recently in Scream 4 he was a great addition to the cast. He's always stuck in movies that fail to achieve anything they are trying to achieve. He is a funny and energetic actor with instant recognition even with his respective weight-loss. I will say even in this poor comedy, he still manages to impress.
The film centers around an arrogant, self indulgent rich man named Malcolm King (Anderson). Upset his wife Renee (Smith) is divorcing him and is expected to get half his earnings, he fakes his own kidnapping, but a crazy fast-food employee (Mohr) and a mad employee (Parker) also want to kidnap him to teach him a lesson.
The first forty five minutes of the film are nothing but overacted events that showcase nothing but the film's hyper activity and craziness. I liked both Anderson and Mohr's characters, but their antics aren't as funny that I would even come close to recommend this at all.
The writer of King's Ransom was one of the many writers for one of my favorite television shows, Kenan & Kel. It seems the jokes could've worked in a twenty minute episode of a Nickelodeon, they absolutely do not work for a ninety seven minute movie that is nothing but one poorly done slap sticky joke after another barely saved by two likable actors.
Starring: Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, Donald Faison, Kellita Smith, Nicole Ari Parker, Charlie Murphy, Regina Hall, and Roger Cross. Directed by: Jeffrey W. Byrd.
King's Ransom
2005
Action / Comedy / Crime
King's Ransom
2005
Action / Comedy / Crime
Plot summary
Malcolm King is a wealthy and arrogant businessman whose ex-wife to be has plans to take him for everything he's worth in their divorce settlement. Determined to avoid losing his fortune to her, Malcolm plans his own kidnapping with the help of his dim-witted mistress and her ex-con brother. Unfortunately for Malcolm, he is not the only one with a kidnapping plot.
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Another comedian held ransom to his material
Anthony Anderson is pretty funny but...
his character, Malcom King, is a slimeball in this. The one mistake with the movie is none of the characters are likable. His wife is a golddigger. His employees can't stand him and Corey has prior arrests, so you can't root for him either. King is getting a divorce, so in order to try to keep his wife from getting half, he plots his own kidnapping. The same night, some disgruntled employees and a loser, Corey, are planning to kidnap him too. King has gotten his buffoon of a girlfriend to get her brother to do the kidnapping. But he kidnaps the wrong guy and King is kidnapped for real. King still goes around disrespecting people but teaches Corey how to be a little more forceful. I thought those parts were funny. If you want to see some mustard smeared in a guy's face, then that scene is for you. There were other scenes that were funny, like Peaches going in the bedroom blindfolded, her brother watching exercise shows, Corey at the burger shack, etc...
FINAL VERDICT: I liked this. I thought it was OK for a comedy. Sure it was silly, but it was supposed to be. And Anthony Anderson is good like he usually is in comedies.
This movie should have been straight to DVD. It was SO damn bad!
This movie was probably the crappiest movie I've ever seen. I watched it in Winnipeg, at my friend's house. I found it on my friends' coffee table, and had to see how bad it was. Critics all over were panning the film, and I had to see for myself. It was even worse than I thought it would be, with a god damn ridiculous and stupid plot, unimaginative jokes, and nasty characters.
Here's the plot.: King's Ransom is about an arrogant rich king named Malcolm King. His wife is angry with him, and wants him to pay her alimony or somethin. I don't know what it's for, but I think alimony. When she wants him to pay, he plans his own kidnapping so he doesn't have to pay her. At the same time, other people are planing to kidnap him, too! When one of the kidnappers DOES kidnap Malcolm, he thinks the kidnapper is following his ridiculous plan, but he's not! I'm not saying anymore for the plot.
The deleted scenes were better than the movie, which was crap. Take my word for it. I'd rather get punched repeatedly in the face than watch this again. Ugh! A ONE out of ten for King's Ransom. I would have gone with zero, but you can only go a minimum of one. Please never watch this!