There's a psychological phenomenon known as the Stockholm Syndrome where -- for reasons explored and debated ad nauseam by both professionals and armchair mental experts -- kidnapping or hostage victims end up falling for or at least turning sympathetic toward their captors and/or their plight.
It's named after the location where a bank hostage in the 1970s became romantically attached to one of the criminals trying to pull off the heist. It's also one of the main ingredients of "Nobel Son," an energetic dramedy that's so intent on delivering twists on the old tale of father and son conflict that it ends up as a convoluted, over-directed and edited, and ultimately disappointing mess.
The problem with most criminals, be they the aforementioned bank robbers or pretty much any of their ilk, is that while they might have a plan, such schemes usually aren't designed well enough to succeed and/or simply don't go far enough in covering every necessary detail.
That's bad for them but good not only for society, but also filmmakers who can then entertain their viewers by creating villains who do seem to have their bases covered. Accordingly, and like the Stockholm Syndrome itself, moviegoers often end up falling -- in a variety of ways -- for the bad guys (even when they know they shouldn't). That is, as long as they possess some modicum of charm, smarts and/or chutzpah to pull off some elaborate plan, especially when their victim turns out to be bad and/or in need of some sort of comeuppance.
Here, the filmmakers -- writer/director Randall Miller and co-writer Jody Savin -- have seemingly concocted such an arrangement. While the initial sufferer appears to be a young anthropology student (Bryan Greenberg) who's abducted by the villain (Shawn Hatosy), the one truly targeted is the nasty and pompous chemistry professor played by Alan Rickman in full-blown ego mode, whose demeaning 'tude has only been exacerbated by his recent Nobel Prize victory.
Hatosy's character has more than just money as his motive, but since Rickman doesn't really think much of his son, he doesn't seem terribly concerned about the development, unlike his wife played by Mary Steenburgen (whose character must also deal with his philandering ways). With her cop friend (Bill Pullman) trying to solve the case, the two young men become allies of sorts to get back at the father figure, followed by various other plot twists and such.
While all of that might have looked good and/or worked on paper, the filmmakers run into difficulty pulling it off in execution. Beyond being over-directed and over-edited to within an inch of its life, the plot isn't as smart, creative or fun as its seemingly intended to be, and we don't really get involved with the characters enough (for good or bad) to care one way or another about them and their plights, goals and/or schemes.
The latter part ends up working far too hard to be clever with all of its twists that also include Eliza Dushku as a femme fatale, as well as Danny DeVito as a stooge of sorts, although his presence makes one long for the kidnapping shenanigans and titular behavior of "Ruthless People."
Although it contains some comedic elements, the humor never goes black enough to qualify for entry into that sub-genre. And the drama never plays out seriously or realistically enough, thus leaving the flick in the cinematic equivalent of no man's land where all of its inner workings -- those knotting up all of the pulled strings into various twists and turns as the chess game, if you will, is played out -- are too easily discernible.
With its multiple meaning title -- regarding the Nobel Prize and Stockholm where it's awarded, as well as the play on the similarly spelled "noble" and its multiple definitions regarding heredity, inert chemistry and high moral character (or the lack thereof) -- being indicative of the rest of the film similarly trying too hard, "Nobel Son" ends up winning neither our minds nor our hearts. It rates as a 3.5 out of 10.
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