The film features Alan Rickman as the prize-winning professor and Mary Steenburgen as his wife, with Bryan Greenberg as their kidnapped son.

Barkley has chosen to study not chemistry but anthropology, and this perceived failure triggers constant torrents of abuse from his father.

His missing the flight, though, is the apparently innocent result of having been kidnapped by the deranged Thaddeus James, who claims to be Eli's son by the wife of a former colleague.

Shortly after Barkley's release, Thaddeus rents a garage apartment from the Michaelsons and begins to charm Eli with his knowledge of chemistry.

Cameos include Ted Danson and Tracey Walter as university colleagues of Eli Michaelson, and Ernie Hudson as a police detective aiding in the ransom negotiation.

"[7] Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, praising the cast and writing, "The plot is ingenious, the schemes are diabolical, and it is not every day that a character needs to inform us, 'It is more cruel to eat the living than the dead'".