King's Ransom (2005) Poster

(2005)

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4/10
Great cast, (below) average movie
maros6124 February 2006
A movie is about Malcom King, a spoiled tycoon, who treats people like dirt and acts funny. I think the character was quite good for the comedy genre, so bad the writers of the story weren't bit more creative. The core of the comedy is, that at certain situation, three different groups or individuals mastermind and want to execute the kidnapping (including Mr. King himself). This situation brings a lot of confusion and fun, but I was very disappointed at the laughable material in this comedy. It definitely isn't the type of comedy where you have problems to catch on breathing. Quite reversely, you'll hardly laugh at this flick. It's a kind of light movie you can stare at, and smile for the most part. I expected much more, but it didn't hurt.
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4/10
Needs work
Hypno-223 July 2005
I had heard some pretty horrible things about this movie but i love Anthony Anderson so i decided to give it a shot. Kings Rasom is a comedy about a rich man named Malcom King (Anthony Anderson) who decides to get a divorce to avoid giving his wife a divorce settlement. I never knew how being kidnapped would help achieve this but were just led to believe that somehow this will work. He enlists his girlfriends (Regina Hall) aid to help him who has the IQ of a raising and calls her creepy convict of a brother to help her (played by the brilliant Charlie Murphy).

Unfortunately 2 more sets of people get the same idea of kidnapping him, at the same time what are the odds on that? You have the disgruntled employee who was passed up for a vice president position and you have a lovable looser who is stepped on by Malcolm king.

Kings Ransom does have some funny moments and interesting turns. But allot of things fall flat. Were supposed to believe that a man who built a company would make his bimbo girlfriend vice president? So many coincidences? The feds don't get involved when a millionaire gets kidnapped? My experience with the film was bipolar. At the begging i was hating it, then i started liking it, hated it, loved it, and in the end disappointed. Its as if the script self destructed being pulled in so many directions at once it just gave out. The ending was tagged on, character disappeared, had no purpose or just got lost in the shuffle.

Quite frankly if this was rewritten I think it actually could have been up there with kidnapping classics like "Ruthless People" but instead its just one more movie for the bargain bin.
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5/10
Anthony Anderson is pretty funny but...
MLDinTN6 February 2006
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.
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1/10
This movie should have been straight to DVD. It was SO damn bad!
TorontoLiver15 October 2009
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!
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1/10
Painful To Watch
christian12325 August 2005
Anthony Anderson is Malcolm King, a rich and cocky businessman who tries to get out of being robbed blind by his ex-wife in a divorce settlement by planning his own kidnapping. But someone else already has gotten the same idea, and now King is caught up in a game of "who has the millionaire?"

King's Ransom takes a harmless premise and turns it into a torturous experience. It is one of the worst attempts at comedy and it may be the first comedy ever that has failed to make the audience laugh at least once. It was like they weren't even trying to entertain the audience. I have to ask, what was the point? There was some potential in the premise and the cast wasn't terrible. However, the script fails the film at every turn and it was probably written by a five year old. It's just too bad this film wasn't meant for kids since they would have gotten more entertainment out of it. I would also be more forgiving if this was a kid's film.

The semi decent cast is wasted in this mess and nobody gives a good performance. Anthony Anderson gives a really bad performance as Malcolm King. He overacts like crazy and just ends up being really annoying. Regina Hall over did the airhead role and it got tired fast. Sadly, she probably gave the best performance out of everyone. Jay Mohr tried way too hard to be funny and it didn't work. Donald Faison and Kellita Smith should be ashamed for agreeing to appear in this piece of crap.

I believe the blame shouldn't only go to the screenwriter but to the director as well. Jeff Byrd does a really poor job at directing and he seems to be trying too hard. He sets up all these situations of different people trying to kidnap Malcolm on the same night. There was like four different attempts and none of them were funny. Also, all the subplots are weak and none of them are good enough to save the movie. I will cut Jeff some slack since this is his first real film. However, this isn't the way you should start off. Also, he has to work with a very weak script and an obnoxious lead. I really wish I was joking here but there is not one funny moment. It's really just 95 minutes of pure boredom and there is no point in wasting your time to watch this movie. In the end, this light comedy may end up being the worst movie of 2005. Rating 1/10
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2/10
This is the first movie I ever walked out on.
RecoWilliams26 April 2005
O.k. I'm a black guy. And I usually grade on a curve for black comedies, but this was the worst movie I've ever seen.

Any screenplay writer knows that you are suppose to set-up what's going on in the movie in the first 10 minutes. How about 20 minutes later I still didn't have a clue, then all of my friends and I walked out of a $10.00 movie!

I'm not even going to waste my time writing a plot review for this movie, because I didn't see the whole thing. Two words: IT SUCKS!

Save your money don't rent the DVD, wait for it to come on HBO or better yet wait 3 years until it comes on TBS and they will show it every day if they can edit the harsh language.
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2/10
what the hell
international_thug_13122 October 2006
I think my plot summary speaks for itself! I would have expected better from Anthony Anderson... actually :|. He needs to make more movies like The Departed and needs to stay clear of train wrecks like this. You don't even find out the actually plot of the movie until 45 minutes in, and this is a 90 minute movie. It feels like a Simpsons episode where there are jokes and random things happening for the first 15 minutes then the actual problem arises in the last 10 minutes. The only difference with this though is that... Its just not funny! Jay Mohr couldn't even save this and i love Jay Mohr. My advice, forget this movie exists and go see The Departed where you can see Anthony Anderson at his prime. Horrible movie
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1/10
bad. very bad. very, very bad
flyfisher_2075012 May 2006
actually would rate this movie a minus 10. i saw it on HBO and walked out. the stars of this movie are usually very good, but none of them could save this utter bomb. 'nuff said.

and now after having said all that was necessary, IMDb says i need 10 lines of commentary.... who are they kidding? the damn movie doesn't warrant 10 lines and IMDb should know that. their own review only lasts two and a half lines.

anyway. the "best, best" part of the movie is the very end and the credits. no one should waste time or money buying or renting this dud, much less watching it. i've actually seen grown men regurgitate a complete meal over this. save yourselves.
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6/10
What movie did you other people go see??
david90016317 May 2005
Okay, I am obviously alone here.

I thought this movie was funny but too short.

Peaches rocked.

The gold-digger wife was (is) hot.

Loretta Devine as the secretary...flawless.

The acting-VP with the college degrees...or...no degrees, going berserk...could it be any funnier?

The sandwich getting body slammed on the roadside? funny shtick.

And the fifty-cent music...perfect!

I thought this movie had a lot to offer. It was just too short. The credits were rolling but I was wanting more.

Remember, it is not true to life. It seems that "black" films are required to either represent true life or contain a "do-good message" for the youth.

I'd prefer to go to a movie to laugh and be entertained.

I thought this film was entertaining.

King's Ransom was funny but too short.

I've seen it twice just to make sure.
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1/10
If you have seen this movie, you have experienced cinema hell.
bwing1075 August 2008
This by far the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life.

I saw this movie in theaters with a friend because the cast line up looked promising. We tried to like this movie, we really did. We weren't the only ones who hated it. Walking in I was surprised to about 20 people in the theater. The movie had come out recently so I expected a bigger crowd but no. About 30 minutes into the movie, people started walking out. By the end there were about 10 people left. There is maybe one good moment of spontaneity in the film but other than that one fleeting moment it's pure garbage. I did not walk out though, I stayed until the end hoping the movie would redeem itself. I regret losing those minutes of my life.
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8/10
Anthony Anderson gets a lead role
SonicStuart6 August 2005
King's Ransom

Starring: Anthony Anderson, Charlie Murphy, Regina Hall, Nicole Ari Parker, Kellita Smith, Jay Mohr, Brooke D'Orsay, Donald Faison and Loretta Devine

Rated PG-13 for Crude and Sexual Humor and Language

Genre: Comedy/Crime

Star Rating: ***1/2 out of 5

This is the first movie with Anthony Anderson playing the leading role and before that he was pretty much the sidekick role in these buddy comedy movies. Anthony Anderson plays Malcolm King, who is a big time rich businessman who has an ex-wife, Renee King (Kellita Smith) who is wanting half of the money Malcolm is making in his company in the divorce settlement. Malcolm decides to plan his own kidnapping so that way he doesn't have to pay his ex-wife half the money with the help of his dim-witted mistress, Peaches Clarke (Regina Hall) and her ex-con brother, Herb Clarke (Charlie Murphy). But Malcolm's employees have had enough of Malcolm's attitude and are wanting to hold him for ransom and another guy named Corey (Jay Mohr) is kidnapping Malcolm to try to get the money for his sister. This movie was outrageously hilarious! Plus I think this is also the first time I have seen Charlie Murphy do a movie because he is mainly known for being one of the co-stars off "Chappelle's Show"!

BOTTOM LINE: OUTRAGEOUS!
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6/10
Rich Tycoon wanting to have his cake and eat it too.
cindylee13333 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I found this movie very easy to watch. Not only was it "in my opinion" a pretty good story, but it made me laugh out loud at times, which for me is very hard. Typical RICH MAN, WHO DOESN'T WANT HIS EX, TO HAVE NOTHING.Love Anthony Anderson, who, now that I think of it, couldn't really think of a better actor to play this part. It was down to the 'FACTS', how money can change almost any person, into a different person, then wonder how they got that way. Fun to watch, easy to watch, and good story. So, if your looking for something to take off your mind, and think about other people's RICH PEOPLE'S problems, this show will probably do the trick. Enjoy it, it 's worth watching.
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1/10
Beautiful Women Do Not Make This Movie Great!
leighabc12329 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Anthony Anderson has been type-casted. He only plays the roles of stupid obnoxious, retarded characters in every movie that he's in. This movie had fly Kellita Smith, fly Nicole Parker, and fly Regina Hall in it. Unfortunately, their good looks couldn't help the stupid plot of this movie. If you see the DVD version, you will see 20 deleted scenes that will explain some of the plot holes in the movie. We should have known that Nicole's character told a lot of lies in the movie. But whatever happened to Kellita's pool boy who got locked up in the trunk? Is anyone so stupid that they would try to sleep with someone blindfolded like Regina Hall did with Donald Faison? Overall, this movie had a very fairytale stupid plot.
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5/10
A rich, obnoxious business man hires someone to kidnap himself, but others plan to kidnap him,too.
mrgregorykitt21 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I loved how sexy Regina Hall looked in this film. She has been slept on for far too long. This is undoubtedly her sexiest role to date. The movie was a feel good movie. Certainly not the best movie Mr. Anderson will make. But for his first leading role, a good step in the right direction. The ending makes the movie worthwhile. Jay Mohr's character development is nothing short of spectacular which culminates at the end of the movie. There's a partially revealing back shot of Regina Hall. The ending has an upbeat,yet, realistic outcome which sheds a light on life's everyday simple pleasures. The movie does have it's comedic moments,too. If you are a fan of Mr. Anderson, catch this movie at a matinée or you'll miss a few of these hilarious moments. Jay Mohr gives an excellent performance as his would be kidnapper. The audience love's his character.
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Fool's Gold
scorseseisgod-112 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The ex-wife of millionaire Chicago businessman Malcolm King, a disgruntled former employee and two co-workers, a loser living with his grandmother and the millionaire himself all plot to arrange and execute his kidnapping. The WB on the big screen complete with anonymous aerial shots of the city that act as scene-bridgers. Donald Faison as a valet parker mistaken for King and his burly, ex-con kidnapper (Charlie Murphy in the Tiny Lister role) add a couple of chuckles and Loretta Devine is always welcome. Anthony Anderson is only funny in posed background photographs scattered throughout. The one quality moment involves the three friends (Nicole Parker, Leila Arcieri and Brooke D'Orsay) arriving at the kidnapping wearing mask of Condoleeza Rice, Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell. Note the only white girl in the bunch dons the Powell disguise. Regina Hall as Peaches, King's bimbo secretary and Jay Mohr as the grandmomma's boy are unthinkable.
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1/10
Oh My God.
PaulTrampe23 July 2005
I was previewing the DVD last night and had to turn it off after 15 minutes. The character introductions were barely less subtle than if they had come out and said "Hi, I'm Anthony Anderson, but today I'm playing Malcolm King, a rich man that people hate." There was not an ounce of subtlety. It was disgustingly awful.

I'm sure that there are people out there that like Anthony Anderson - people who thought that the time spent on his character in Barbershop DIDN'T distract from the main story and damage the otherwise-entertaining film. I'm sure that there are people who don't find his high-pitched voice grating on the ears. I'm sure there are people who don't want to vomit at the site of him in a film. They MAY find this film entertaining. Anybody with an ounce of taste, however, will be turned off immediately.

Then again, people with taste would see him on the poster or DVD box and wouldn't watch it anyway. I did it because it's my job to try and watch this crap. You don't have that excuse. Save yourself.
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5/10
Could have been a lot better...
saint40510 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Kings Ransome is about a billionaire named Malcome King who devises a plan to get himself kidnapped so he can get his money back from his wife who is going to get themselves divorced. Malcome's friend Peaches has her convict brother Herb pick up Malcome but he picks up the wrong guy, some dude named Andre. Malcome is then kidnapped for real by a low life bum named Corey who lives in his grandma's basement where Malcome teaches him the ropes of kidnapping thinking Corey is Herb. Meanwhile his wife is on the run looking for him as so is Malcome's large secretary who is raving on with lazy policemen on the trails of two other groups of people who want Malcome dead. But when Malcome's wife is kidnapped as well by Corey who suddenly goes crazy, Malcome's life is all up for grabs. King's Ransome now is a movie that had a really good plot but it was wasted. The characters are all sleazy, especially Grandma, and the story keeps getting twisted around with character plots. The writing is pretty choppy and lame in some areas but sometimes it's really funny like when Malcome describes how big a mans balls are to really be a true man, hilarious. The ending though is where it all goes down hill where we have freeze frames of all the characters and captions going across the screen telling about what happened to them. The last caption with Malcome and his wife throws the story out the door which means I just sat through a boring movie that never made a difference. But that doesn't mean the movies all bad. Charles Murphey, Eddie Murphey's bro, is hilarious as Herb and the guy who played Anre is good. Peaches is a little annoying and Anthony Anderson is really wasted as Malcome. Jay as Corey though gives an alright performance. This movie though succeeds in bringing back and forth good ideas. The ending fight scene is alright till the police arrive where Mrs. King throws in some bad dialog so fast we loose interest in the timing. Kings Ransome gets a 5 out of 10, good but made totally wrong. See it only for Charlie. Try to enjoy it if you can.
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4/10
Another comedian held ransom to his material
StevePulaski18 June 2011
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.
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7/10
Way funnier than what I thought
shockg-122 April 2005
I saw this at a sneak peek the day before it came out and laughed a lot! This movie is hilarious. I will be buying it on DVD when it comes out. It's nice to go to a movie and just be able to laugh out loud and this is definitely that type of film.

I love Anthony Anderson and I am glad he was recently cleared of all charges in that Memphis trailer fiasco which I didn't believe in the first place. All in all this was a very cute movie and my boyfriend and I found ourselves reminding each other of different funny parts and laughing about them after the movie.

Enjoy the film!
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10/10
kings ransom kidnap scene
colfordmaliek30 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Kings ransom cosey as jay mohr who's threatened to kidnap Mr. King as anthony anderson
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7/10
Decent Movie
lemke_sr4 December 2007
I didn't catch the beginning, but what I saw was funny. From the point of Andy Anderson entering Jay Mohr's Grandma's house. Andy got it thru Jay's head to grow a set of ca-hone's (Sorry my spelling probably isn't correct) and Jay actually growing them.

It is a silly slapstick comedy. It had me laughing. It did it's job.

Andy's character had the same qualities as the rest of his characters, like the thief from Barbershop, or the friend in Kangaroo Jack.

You should't watch this movie expecting to be moved to anything but laughter.

Even Charlie Murphys' character was funny.
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10/10
Great movie!
francoischristana6 October 2021
I'm seeing all the negative feedback, but the movie was not inferior it actually made me laugh. I was really curious how the capture was going to occur with everyone having their own agenda. Also, if the wife Renee refused to pay the 10 million ransom and Malcolm was supposed to presume dead he would not have access to his money and would have to live a normal life. So it's a lose-lose situation.
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10/10
This was a beautiful movie to watch
mastuhoscg5 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed watching this film on Tubi tonite. It was very funny especially during the scene which involved the main character of this film showing his mistress an animated concept of how he wanted to be captured. I especially like the theme song of this film & I remember a time I watched "King's Ransom" on Bounce TV as a teenager & I liked it very much. & NO, I DO NOT CALL "KING'S RANSOM" A GUILTY PLEASURE BEING SO I DO NOT HAVE ANY. I especially like how cool this film was & the plot was very nice. I know that what I am about to say might sound ridiculous or controversial to some people on here but "King's Ransom" is one of Anthony Anderson's best films ever. I look forward to seeing it again very very soon.
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