The level of tension in Ron Howard's new film, "Ransom" was enough to make the entire audience grind their teeth down to nothing.

"Ransom" takes a simple but terrifying premise: what would a parent do if their child was kidnapped and held for ransom. The parent is played by Mel Gibson, and it is his performance that carries this film.

Gibson is Tom Mullen, the wealthy owner of a major airline whose nine-year-old son (played by Brawley Nolte, Nick's son) is snatched in broad daylight from a park.

The kidnappers demand $2 million, showing Gibson and his wife, Kate, played by Rene Russo, pictures of their son tied up in a dark room somewhere. The scene is truly disturbing, and both actors manage to convey the absolute horror of seeing their only chi ld held captive.

The movie is different from most kidnapping stories because it gives the viewpoints of both sides. The kidnappers receive an equal amount of screen time with the distraught parents and the group of FBI agents that try to help them recover their son.

Delroy Lindo ("Get Shorty") plays the head FBI agent, who somehow manages to stay calm despite the emotional maelstrom all around him. Gary Sinise ("Forrest Gump") is a tough New York cop who also figures into the plot, though I won't ruin anything by say ing how.

Lili Taylor ("Short Cuts") and Donnie Wahlberg (yes, from New Kids on the Block) play two of the kidnappers.

For Howard, this is certainly his darkest, grittiest and most suspenseful film. He does a tremendous job of building up the tension, especially after Mullen goes public with the story of his son's kidnapping and then refuses to pay the ransom, instead off ering the money as a reward for the kidnapper's head.

When the leader of the kidnappers demands the money or Mullen's son will be shot, Tom refuses. This is the scene shown in the previews in which Gibson, with veins popping out of his neck, screams, "Give me back my son!"

The tension is so fierce that every seat in the theater will have indentations from the audience's clutched hands in the armrests.

Gibson's performance puts him through an even greater emotional roller coaster than he went through in "Braveheart." He has to go from angry, to scared, to depressed, to anxious, to frustrated in the span of about three minutes half-a-dozen times in the f ilm.

Howard uses the bleak fall landscape of New York to his advantage. It is a cold, cruel world that he is showing. He captures the various moods with different shades of lighting. The darker it is, the worse off the good characters are. He uses gray to buil d up suspense, and uses bright colors to show both anger and elation.

To reveal anymore of the plot would cheat the audience out of a big surprise about 30 minutes into the film. It is not the plot, but the acting by Gibson and his co-stars that drives the movie. After receiving an Oscar for Best Director last year, Gibson deserves a best actor nomination this year.

"Ransom" is worthy of the full box office price, and maybe more. Kudos once again to Howard and Gibson for serving up another great movie.

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