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In the Line of Fire | Year: 1993 Classification: Thriller Directed: - Wolfgang Petersen Actors/Actresses: - Clint Eastwood - John Malkovich - Rene Russo Redemption? A smart, taut thriller with a sense of humor, In the Line of Fire was directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Air Force One, A Perfect Storm) and produced by Clint Eastwood, Petersen, and others. (Eastwood doesn't take a producer's credit, but his longtime associate, David Valdes, is listed as executive producer). The movie pits Eastwood's 'dinosaur' of a Secret Service agent with a past ('Frank Horrigan') against John Malkovich's effete snob psychopath ("Booth"). "Booth," a cashiered CIA assassin, wants to get even with his former employer, and write himself a page in the history books, a la John Wilkes Booth, by killing a president; Frank aims to stop him. Rene Russo plays a gorgeous, younger Secret Service agent ('Lilly Raines') whom Frank goes out of his way to irritate, beginning with their first encounter. (Frank: 'The secretaries keep getting prettier and prettier.' Lilly: 'And the field agents get older and older.') (In the Line of Fire's storyline was surely inspired in large part by Stephen Sondheim's 1990-91 musical theater masterpiece, Assassins. Failing even to make it to Broadway, Assassins was a commercial flop of historical proportions, but in this critic's opinion, contains the greatest of all of Sondheim's scores. Led by its own 'Booth' as narrator, Assassins speculates that all presidential assassins were bound by the need to achieve a perverse form of 'greatness'; that through killing a great man, they too would achieve a sort of second-hand greatness and immortality, even if it was only the immortality of men whose names would be cursed throughout history.) Booth has obsessively studied the history of presidential assassins, particularly the Kennedy assassination. That's what brings him and Frank together. Frank was one of JFK's bodyguards; indeed, he was Kennedy's favorite. He 'had Kennedy's ear.' But when the time came, on that fateful, November morning in Dallas, Frank heard the first shot, but failed to react. That failure has tortured him ever since. Booth knows this, and in teasing, almost erotic telephone calls, relentlessly needles Frank about it. ('Late at night, when the demons come, do you see the rifle coming out of that window, or do you see Kennedy's head being blown apart? If you'd reacted to that first shot, could you have gotten there in time to stop the big bullet? And if you had -- that could've been your head being blown apart. Do you wish you'd succeeded, Frank? Or is life too precious?') In order to keep the cat-and-mouse game interesting, Booth gives Frank clues and assistance along the way. The hammy Malkovich, who sounds like a decadent, tenured, 'postmodern' professor of literature, earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. ('Watching the President, I -- I couldn't help wondering why a man like you would risk his life to save a man like that. You have such a strange job -- I can't decide if it's heroic or absurd'. Frank: 'Just how does it work?' Booth: 'It doesn't work, Frank. God doesn't punish the wicked and reward the righteous. Everyone dies. Some die because they deserve to; others die simply because they come from Minneapolis. It's random and it's meaningless. Frank: 'Well, if none of this means anything... why kill the President? Booth: 'To punctuate the dreariness.') By contrast, Eastwood drolly plays off his flinty, plainspoken character's age and infirmities. And watching Russo could break a man's heart, wondering, 'If only Hollywood directors had had the sense to make her a star when she was 25 or 30, instead of waiting until she was 38, to notice her.' But as Brett Walter's marvelous imdb.com bio shows, it turns out she had a life, 'B.H.' (before Hollywood). Jeff Maguire's original script is so good, that it gets not only the big stuff ' the diabolical bad guy and the red herrings that the heavy throws the heroes' way -- but also the little things that so often make me wince during a thriller. He gives Eastwood and Russo dialogue they can work with, so that they can make us believe, without insulting our intelligence, that Lilly might just give an old rust bucket like Frank a whirl. But amid all the action and clever small talk, Maguire provides a melancholy background music binding the characters, who recall a time when we had presidents worth taking a bullet for. (At the time, Bill Clinton was president, but I can't say if the melancholy referred to him personally.) No wonder, he was nominated for an Oscar (he lost out to Jane Campion, for the vastly overrated The Piano.) Film editor Anne V. Coates was also nominated for an Oscar. Coates, who had won an Oscar for 1962's Lawrence of Arabia, lost out to Michael Kahn of Schindler's List. Eastwood was already on a roll (as both actor and director ' see Unforgiven, A Beautiful World, The Bridges of Madison County and Absolute Power) when he made In the Line of Fire, which started Russo on one (Get Shorty, Tin Cup, The Thomas Crown Affair). Wolfgang Petersen's deft direction keeps things moving, and is so unaffected and unobtrusive, that I'm left with little to point to. Petersen and Maguire cleverly work Eastwood's personal fondness for playing the piano into the story. Eastwood, Malkovich, and Russo are ably supported by a cast that includes Gary Cole, Fred Thompson, John Mahoney, Dylan McDermott and the District of Columbia. Will Booth prevail, or will Frank redeem himself? That is the question. Clint Eastwood's best performance yet! "In The Line of Fire" is a thinking person's movie with lots of action, suspense, and brains as well! It gets better and better every time that I watch it! Clint Eastwood gave a superb performance as Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan, a man who is haunted by a loss. In 1963, he was guarding President John F. Kennedy when the commander-in-chief was assassinated in Dallas, TX. Horrigan's inability to divert the tragedy has wreaked havoc on his personal life, making the aging agent socially reclusive and chagrined at his own failures. "A living legend; the only active agent who ever lost a President", says Horrigan of his soiled reputation. His chance to redeem himself comes soon enough, though. A meticulous psychopath named Mitch Leary (John Malkovich in a outstanding and frightening performance) is threatening the current president, and Horrigan is back on the case. Leary identifies himself as John Booth, an eerie reference to President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Leary taunts Horrigan for his failings, and his pranks become more dangerous as he gets closer to his endgame. Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot", "Air Force One") directs this super-slick thriller with sheer intensity and explosive action as well. Two powerhouse actors, plus a great supporting cast (Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, John Mahoney, Gary Cole, Fred Dalton Thompson) make "In The Line of Fire" one of the absolute best suspense films of 1993! Secret Service Agent Man Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, (Air Force One) IN THE LINE OF FIRE, is another solid thriller, that delivers. Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan (played with assured confidence by Clint Eastwood) is haunted by the fact that, in 1963, he failed to protect President Kennedy, from being killed. Some 30 years later, he is called into action and must protect another President. When a crazed assassin (John Malkovich) tells Frank that he will kill the current leader of the US, unless Horrigan can prevent it. Frank must fight the past in order to save the present. The film also stars Rene Russo, as Frank's Field Chief, and Dylan McDermott, as his partner. Eastwood draws on his "Dirty Harry" persona for sure, but tones it down a few notches, so that viewers can tell the difference between them. Malkovich is effectively errie and sinister as Frank's nemesis. There is also good chemistry between Russo and Eastwood to provide plenty of spark. Petersen stages the entire film with a firecracker percision that is downright exciting. This film is a great companion to AIR FORCE ONE. There are a few extras on the DVD that are worth your time. They include the "How'd they do that?" featurette. The Director gives a pretty good commentary track, but, it can lag from time to time. The rest of the disc is pretty standard. I wish the deleted scenes were cleaned up a bit so that you could follow them better. A few of them had sound problems and were so dark that I had to play them more than once, in order to appreciate them. This is a good actioner with solid acting and an exciting story. The Special Edition DVD is recommended. Enjoy. Buy In The Line Of Fire at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on In The Line Of Fire Search with the Priority Search Engine on In The Line Of Fire This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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