The Negotiator Review
by Bob Bloom (cbloom AT iquest DOT net)January 28th, 1999
The Negotiator (1998) 2 stars out of 4
Sometimes as you watch a film you get a sixth sense that something is lacking.
I'm not talking about some grade-Z slasher film with a no-name cast, but a major studio production with bankable stars.
Such a movie is The Negotiator.
On the surface the movie, about a highly-decorated Chicago police hostage negotiator who takes hostages of his own after being framed for his partner's murder and the theft of $2 million from the police pension fund, is enjoyable as well as being predictable.
But it's missing that spark, that added something that raises it from the mere ordinary.
And it's in the performances of Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey that this fault lies. Both are very fine actors who usually dominate the screen. But in The Negotiator they seem to only be going through the motions. Both give workmanlike performances. Both are very professional and smart. Both are very good. But it's as if they didn't put their hearts and souls into the project.
It's more like the movie was just another job, another paycheck.
With Jackson and Spacey as protagonists - Spacey's character, like Jackson's, is a hot-shot police negotiator - sparks should fly when they face off on screen.
But nothing happens. Just two fine actors throwing lines at each other. A remoteness is emitted from the screen. An invisible barrier keeps you from any emotional involvement in either character or Jackson's predicament.
Jackson and Spacey are too intelligent and too charismatic to allow their characters to be nothing more than two-dimensional archtypes. They endow their roles with enough business to keep you interested. But, perhaps because of their reputations or their past performances, we've come to expect more.
Maybe it's because the screen just doesn't explode from the force of their personalities. Or maybe it's because they are so focused on each other that they forgot there's an audience watching.
It doesn't help that The Negotiator has a been-there, done-that feel to it. An honest cop, framed by dishonest bretheran. We've seen it all before.
And after a while it becomes obvious who the secret leader of the conspiracy is. While everyone else involved in the hostage situation wants to rush in and shoot Jackson's Danny Roman, only one of his superiors remains the calm voice of reason.
Fans of Jackson and Spacey should enjoy The Negotiator. It's just that considering the fine cast, which also includes David Morse, Ron Rifkin and John Spenser, you'd expect more of an edge, a bit more unpredicatibility.
As it is, The Negotiator is merely routine. And that is not enough.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at
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Carol Bloom of Bloom Ink Publishing Professionals
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
