The Negotiator Review
by Jamey Hughton (bhughton AT sk DOT sympatico DOT ca)September 24th, 1999
THE NEGOTIATOR
**** (out of five stars)
A review by Jamey Hughton
Starring-Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, John Spencer,
David Morse, J.T. Walsh and Ron Rifkin
Director-F. Gary Gray
Rated 14A
Released July 1998
Warner Bros.
Reviewed 1999
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While it has the workings of a standard hostage film, The Negotiator is
something more than that. The reason? The two lead performances spark so
much interest and tension that the material is lifted above the regular
ante. As they face off against each other in a battle of wits and
intelligence, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey stretch a limited
subject into a filling two-hour, twenty minute time slot.
Renowned police negotiator Danny Roman (Jackson) is in quite the pickle:
he’s been framed for his partner’s murder and accused of stealing money
from the police pension fund. While Roman stresses that he is innocent,
there is so much evidence against him that even his colleagues and
friends are pondering his guilt. And it’s quite possible that someone in
his precinct is involved - he just has to find out who.
And so Roman does something crazy. At least it would seem crazy at first
glance; he walks into Internal Affairs and dukes it out with Inspector
Niebaum (J.T. Walsh) as he searches for the truth. Things get out of
hand, and Roman ends up taking hostages on the 20th floor. They include
Niebaum, his prickly secretary (Siobahn Fallon), and a computer fraud
specialist (Paul Giamatti) who was in a meeting at the time. The
incident is turned into a full-blown media event, which is exactly what
Roman had planned. He wants to intimidate Niebaum until he divulges the
identity of the killer, and this tight situation is the perfect way to
make him sweat it out.
Roman requests fellow negotiator Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), refusing
to listen to anyone else. The connection between the two is a simple
one: Sabian is a stranger, and right now Roman is having difficulty
trusting any friends. When Spacey enters the picture, The Negotiator
gets very interesting. Both are in the same profession, and each is
aware of the rules of the game. Roman can predict each move that Sabian
is planning next, and this is a marvelous tension builder. It becomes
clear that this is going to a long, hard-fought battle between two
determined men who are trying desperately to outsmart each other. It’s a
treat, to say the least, while watching these verbal showdowns.
The Negotiator is still aware of it’s basic hostage/takeover premise,
and it relies on this more toward the end. Roman ends up searching
Niebaum’s files on his office computer, until some mysterious phone taps
come up. If there’s one disappointing aspect of the film, it’s the
obvious route for the resolution. For a movie so exciting and original
to turn into something conventional in the end is rather a
disappointment. But even when The Negotiator experiences an occasional
lapse in development, director F. Gary Gray is right there to set it
back on course once again.
As for the question of “whodunit?”, it’s one of the little worries.
We’re so caught up in the fiery foreplay of the two stars that we nearly
forget about the initial plot. At some point, though, you begin to make
assumptions of the real killer’s identity. It’s a tough decision,
because everyone is a possible suspect. The arrogant team-player Beck
(David Morse) could be involved, or the chief (John Spencer) perhaps...
But take my advice: don’t suspect anyone of the crime just because of
their relationship to Roman, because in the end it has little bearing on
the outcome.
Everything in The Negotiator would have been fairly routine if it
weren’t for the quality of acting. Jackson and Spacey are both
excellent, commanding, and appropriately cast. Without their intense
confrontations, this film would collapse helplessly. But because of the
amount of excellence applied, this is one of the smarter action films to
come along in a while. And it’s the best star vehicle that either actor
may get in many years to come.
(C) 1999, Jamey Hughton
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