This was one hell of a twisted "true" story. There were so many different emotions at play. The grandfather being obsessed with money. The mother willing to do anything. The kid being scared. Even the kidnappers covered all different kinds of angles of looking at what they were doing. This was very well told and played from beginning to end with the audience hooked on where it was going. As for the controversy about this movie - the removal and reshooting of Chrisopher Plummer taking over for Kevin Spacey ended up being awesome because there is no way that Kevin Spacey could have been as good in that role.
I would definitely recommend people checking this out. It was a hell of a story and a very entertaining watch.