When I first heard about Nobel Son last year, I was intrigued by the idea that a Nobel Prize-winning college professor would find himself blackmailed by a kidnapper threatening to murder his son. Finally able to get a chance to see the finished product, I found myself highly entertained but completely unaware about what I was getting myself into. The film, starring Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, and Bryan Greenberg, is a black comedy-inflected, double-crossing plot-filled lark that reflects the darkness of our hearts while maintaining a justice-focused agenda to the very end.

The Michaelson family is headed by the philandering college professor, Eli (Rickman), who alienates his wife (Steenburgen) and equally-gifted but often derided son, Barkley (Greenberg.) While Greenberg has the attention of the younger audience with a resume that includes One Tree Hill, The Perfect Score, and Bride Wars, it's Rickman who steals the show with his most dastardly role since the Sheriff of Nottingham in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It's not thatEli does anything during the film that's breaking the Ten Commandments... but you'll quickly see what I mean. He's "delightfully" evil, and that drives the steps of what happens... his choices set all of the present day action in motion.

I thought that Greenberg played his role to the hilt as well, and it's certainly well-casted that he plays off of his kidnapper (Shawn Hatosy) and the delightful female fatale (Eliza Dushku, who always reminds me of Jessica Alba, but was actually in Tru Calling not Dark Angel). While each plays their role well, it's not surprising that the inclusion of the better-known Pullman, Rickman, and Steenburgen provide the depth of the film, with Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, and Tracey Walter thrown in for added spice.

In the kidnapping, the awarding of the Nobel Prize, thedouble-crossing, and covering up that follows, the character studies and interpersonal communication exploration of the film show that crime, vengeance, and anger will only lead down a dark road that few can escape. (For the record, the film doesn't make promiscuity, theft, deceit, or murder look too slick, either!) Obviously, a little bit of "love your neighbor as yourself" or "turn the other cheek" would've gone along way toward solving the problems of all of those involved, but the film wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining.

While the double-crossing does get straightened out in the end, the film shows that some people are just inclined to self-indulgence and the negligence of all human life. Even when faced with a life-changing opportunity, a few of the characters refuse to be reformed, andignore all signs that seem aimed at their rehabilitation. Unfortunately, we see that experience as a metaphor for the Gospel as well: Jesus offers us the opportunity to accept his resurrection and become new people, but not everyone accepts. In the end, Nobel Son proves, like the Gospel, that we have a free will, and it's up to us what choices we make. Will we use our opportunities for good?