bloated poorly written mess

Reasons why this movie is crap:

1. It goes on for at least 40 minutes longer than the run time needed to be.

2. The basic plot has been done 100 times in other, better movies, e.g. The Fugitive.

3. It has a psychopath as a sympathetic hero. I realize that it sucks to be framed for murder, but committing an act of terrorism to prove his innocence is oxymoronic.

4. So much policial and legal reality is ignored that the movie is no more realistic than Alice in Wonderland. Cases in point: we are meant to assume that Danny is cleared and set free at the end, but really he'd have to be prosecuted for garrisoning an office building, taking hostages, and causing a situation which resulted in property damages and some deaths, even if those killed were scum. The supposedly elite police squads make amateurish mistakes like letting negotiators and entry teams know of each other's actions, not suspecting the gunshot over the phone is a bluff, and being distracted enough by a smoke bomb to completely miss one unaccounted person just walking out of the building.

5. The characters are all cardboard stock characters who add nothing unique to the history of cinema. This particularly applies to the villains who are nothing memorable. A bad thriller can be saved by a charismatic villain, which is not the case here.

6. Cheap dei ex machina are used to wrap up plot ends including the old secret intercom trick used to make the bad guy fess up to the crowd at the end.

7. Paul Giamatti is given hardly anything to do.