by NICOLE LOPEZ//Sports Editor

A lovely day at the carnival with her son turns into a nightmare for a single mother.

Halle Berry stars as single mother Karla Dyson in the abduction thriller film, “Kidnap.” Karla takes her 6-year-old son Frankie (Sage Correa) to a carnival one afternoon, and it’s a day they both will never forget.

Karla leaves Frankie on a bench for a quick minute to talk on the phone with her divorce lawyer. When Karla comes back, Frankie is nowhere to be found. After shouting her son’s name and looking everywhere for him, Karla sees her son being dragged into a car by a woman. Attempting to stop the vehicle, Karla clings to the car. She fails to hold on and immediately goes to her van and chases after the car.

The car chase scene is lengthy, but it does have some suspenseful moments.

Karla is hot on the abductors’ tracks and tries to grab the attention of other drivers by driving radically. By coincidence, a police officer comes up behind Karla and notices her driving. The officer pulls up next to Karla and she rolls down her window, explaining to the officer that the car in front of them has her son. When the conversation is over, the abductor’s car pulls over, waits for Karla and the officer, and wedges the officer between the two vehicles. The police officer flies off the motorcycle and gets thrown to the side of the street.

Karla is hysterical, and the abductors lead her to a grassy field. A woman named Margo (Chris McGinn) gets out of the car and tells Karla her and her husband Terry (Lew Temple) won’t give her son back unless she pays them a $10,000 ransom. Karla agrees to give them the money, and, for reassurance, Margo rides with Karla while Terry follows them.

When reaching a tunnel, Margo fails to kill Karla. Karla ends up throwing Margo out of the van, while tricking Terry into thinking his wife is driving the vehicle. The rest of the movie is kind of bland. It involves more car chases and uninteresting dialogue.

“Kidnap” was released on July 31 and has received good feedback. Berry starred in a similar film four years ago, and she did great in that one as well. She portrayed a single mother desperately trying to get her son back realistically. Her acting didn’t seem fake, but genuine.

One thing I didn’t like about the film was that some parts didn’t seem realistic. There was a scene where Berry is driving her mini van and the speedometer read an unrealistic speed for a mini van. Also, I think there was too much car chasing in this film. There wasn’t enough action during the car chasing either.

Another problem I had with the film was that the abductors never explain why they were abducting children. There was a scene where McGinn speaks to someone on the phone about having the child. But, the film never explains why they were doing it. That really bothered me. I hate it when films don’t tie up loose ends, or they don’t explain things that need to be explained.

Overall, “Kidnap” is a good movie, but it’s not great. It could have definitely been more suspenseful and more action packed.

I give this movie 6 out of 10.

6/10