Man on Fire (2004) is a high watermark for revenge films. Denzel Washington is captivating in the role of John Creasy, an ex-CIA agent who takes it upon himself to recover the little girl (Dakota Fanning) he was hired to protect. The road to recovery is star-studded, violent, and unforgettable after only one viewing.
An aspect of the film that has fans confused, however, is its real-life connection. Did the kidnapping in the story really take place? Is Creasy a real person?
What is Man on Fire about?
Man on Fire was based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A.J. Quinnell. The film more or less follows the outline of the novel, but there are a few crucial differences in terms of setting. The novel takes place in Italy instead of Mexico, and Creasy is an ex-member of the French Foreign Legion instead of the CIA.
Quinnell was fascinated by real-life instances of kidnappings gone wrong. As such, to prepare for his book, he researched two specific cases that informed the structure of the story.
The first was the kidnapping of the eldest son of a Singaporean businessman. According to The US Sun, the businessman refused to pay the ransom demanded by the Triads because he did not want his other children to be targeted. The Triads killed his son in response, but none of the other children were kidnapped afterward.
The second was the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III in 1973. He was the grandson of J. Paul Getty, who was one of the richest men in the world and was similarly reluctant to pay the $17 million ransom for fear his other grandchildren would be targeted. Getty also suspected that his grandson orchestrated the kidnapping as a ruse to get money.
Is Man on Fire based on a true story?
There’s a simple answer and a more complicated answer. The simple answer is no: the kidnapping did not take place, and Creasy is not a real person. The complicated answer is that the story and the character were taken from a novel that was inspired by real-life events.
After some rough tactics that included sending the family the grandson’s severed ear, Getty agreed to pay $2.2 million, which was the maximum amount that was still tax deductible. The grandson was returned, and all ended (relatively) well. The famous kidnapping was dramatized in the film All the Money in the World (2017), which starred Christopher Plummer as Getty. The film was directed by Ridley Scott, which is ironic given that Man on Fire was directed by his late brother, Tony Scott.
The common link of a patriarch refusing to pay ransom doesn’t really factor into Man on Fire. Quinnell found the real-life examples interesting, but the novel and subsequent film make it clear that he used it as a springboard for a much pulpier story involving double-crosses and corrupt families.
Washington earned critical praise for his turn as Creasy and spoke openly about the challenge of playing such a psychologically damaged man. He told IGN he liked the notion of Creasy being neither hero nor antihero, but something outside of easily definable categories.
“I just get into who this guy is and what he does and why he’s the way he is and what is the arc of the character,” the actor explained. “I think he struggled with what it is he’s good at. Everybody has a job to do… Some people are good at annihilating people.”
Washington never spoke of a real-life model for the character, which confirms that Creasy is a completely fictional creation. Given the amount of pain the character goes through over the course of the film, though, we’re inclined to lean towards that being a good thing.