Warren has had enough: his wife Elizabeth takes more care about her dog than about him, as she forgot his birthday and took the money from his bank account to pay for the renovation of their house; his father-in-law is also his boss; and he only managed to get a paid leave in October from his dreadful job of a copy and print office. Warren thus straps a fake dynamite kit around his waist, changes his voice and pretends that two kidnappers took him hostage in his house, demanding 50,000$ or they will blow up the place. Elizabeth calls the police, and now Warren is surrounded in the house. Two real Russian kidnappers show up, but he manages to escape from them, take his father-in-law's money and escape with his old acquaintance Diana to Alaska.
The only film directed by the legendary comedian John Candy before his too early death, "Hostage for a Day" is a surprisingly melancholic comedy about people who, realizing their current life is going nowhere, decide to take on a drastic choice to change it to live the way they want to. Comedian George Wendt is very good in the leading role of the annoyed Warren who is slowly losing his patience, and some of the best jokes revolve around the running gag of him seeing the face of his own alter ego in reflections, advising him what to do (when Warren aims a fake pistol at a mirror, he goes: "Talkin' to me?", as his alter ego shows up in the reflection and says: "Yeah, I am, I'm talking to you!"; the alter ego appearing in the reflection of water in a kitchen sink, so Warren just drains the water with him; or the finale where, after Warren's crazy act, his alter ego appears in a side-view mirror: "Despite how nuts you appear at the moment, in reality you are the sanest you ever been!" - "Of course, people who really are nuts probably talk just like this"). The plot tangle where Warren pretends he is taken hostage and distorts his voice for the police, imitating kidnappers, could have been developed in much sharper, wittier and better ways, with far more inspiration than the rather often too lukewarm set of jokes that appear, which is why the dramatic moments almost seem more memorable than the comical ones ("See, you keep looking for quality in a relationship. I keep trying to tell you: the secret to a long-term relationship is complete and total disregard for quality"), but even these attempts at philosophical contemplations about life have some merits.
Grade:++
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