NEGOTIATOR, THE (director: F. Gary Gray; cast: Samuel L. Jackson (Danny Roman), Kevin Spacey (Chris Sabian), David Morse (Commander Beck), Ron Rifkin (Commander Frost), John Spencer (Chief Al Travis), J.T. Walsh (Inspector Niebaum), Regina Taylor (Karen Roman), Paul Giamatti (Rudy), Siobahn Fallon (Maggie), 1998)
An inanely delightful and slickly done and predictable escapist film, based on an actual hostage situation in St. Louis. The story now takes place in Chicago. It makes for a tense actioner pitting veteran Chicago hostage negotiator Lt. Danny Roman (Jackson), wrongly accused of his partner's murder and the misappropriation of a police disability fund, against his counterpart, negotiator Lt. Chris Sabian (Spacey). They are both known to be cool customers who use force only as a last resort.
Danny is the best negotiator on the force. The twist in the story comes about when he takes hostages in a federal building in order to get the real culprits and he now gets a taste of what it is like from the other side of the fence. He does this after his partner is executed gangland-style in the spot where he was to meet him and be told about an informer who has information about the money being stolen from the police fund and about why he shouldn't trust the Department of Internal Affairs.
This gives Danny a chance to match wits with Sabian, and the two stellar actors take it from there. They both try talking through the tough situation they are in. And since Danny knows all the tricks of his trade, it is fun to watch him try to get out of this jam. The only thing the story surprisingly lacked was an intelligent dialogue, though the story itself often took the high road as it was presented in a reasonably intelligent manner. It didn't stoop to gratuitous violence and seemed to be trying to say something about the proper procedures to follow in a hostage situation.
It's all routine-fare, with hardly any surprises, a stylish and carefully orchestrated film, challenging what the concepts of loyalty among colleagues and friends means when things go wrong, and how well you really know someone that you have been friends with, even if it is as long as 20 years.
What holds our attention for this seemingly long film, it did run for about 140 minutes, was the drama revolving around the hostage situation in the police department's Internal Affairs office and who it is that is framing Danny.
The cast includes David Morse, in a robotic role as S.W.A.T. leader Adam Beck, J.T. Walsh as Internal Affairs Chief Terence Niebaum (Walsh died shortly after this film), Ron Rifkin as the less than trustworthy Commander Frost, Siobahn Fallon as Niebaum's assistant and fellow hostage, and Paul Giamatti (son of A. Bartlett Giamatti, late president of Yale University and Commissioner of Baseball) as Rudy, an informer who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It is directed with a certain air of incredulousness by F. Gary Gray, who seems to make light of the fact that Danny had to take hostages to prove his point. The director continues to glamorize him for doing this despite the fact he is doing something that is dangerous to the public and can certainly be considered a criminal act. But it leaves us no choice but to accept that this was Danny's only way out of his troubles.
The film moves along at a quick pace, interrupted by valid action scenes from time-to-time, allowing the film to be an easy watch for those who are not that demanding of a storyline but prefer instead good action sequences.
This glossy run-of-the mill action film should be very successful on its video rental trade, as it is a visually pleasing film, with a happy ending to boot, and nothing symbolic in it to tax your brain. Just about right for the market it is geared to.
REVIEWED ON 6/13/99 GRADE: C
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
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