A bad idea, shoddily executed

IT must have seemed like a good idea at the time but given the outcome, both the makers of Kidnapping Freddy Heineken and the criminals that this true-crime movie portrays would probably have chosen to do something different - like go fishing or join the Foreign Legion. This suspense-free film, based on events surrounding the 1983 abduction of the heir to the Heineken beer fortune, is uninteresting, uninspired and - as viewers will realise long before the final credits roll - unnecessary.

Director Daniel Alfredson proved he was no slouch at psychological thrillers when he helmed the last two parts of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy (2009) but here he is unable to recreate anything that comes close to the depth or tension of that series. Instead, this tale of five Dutch lads with early retirement on their minds but neither the style nor the ability to achieve it, has "messy failure" written all o…