In The Line Of Fire (1993)
Rated R for language and violence
Starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, John Mahoney
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
The Story:
Secret
Service Agents Frank Horrigan (Eastwood) and D'Andrea (McDermott) are
working the counterfeiting portion of the Secret Service. Then one
night, Horrigan answers a phone call from a stranger (Malkovich) who
informs him that he is going to assassinate the President. This doesn't
sit well with Horrigan, as he has already lost a President once:
Kennedy. He vows he's not going to lose another one. He lobbies to get
back on the Presidential detail, but he's old, cranky, and with the
President facing re-election, the Chief of Staff (Fred Thompson) wants
Horrigan nowhere near the President. Will Frank be able to take a
bullet to save a President this time, or is he doomed to fail again?
I think this is my favorite Eastwood movie.
Doing a quick rundown of titles, yeah, this and Kelly's Heroes are my two favorite films by Eastwood of all time.
The movie is extremely well written, there are excellent actors in every role, and the tension continues to build as the movie rolls along.
Eastwood
plays the aging Agent perfectly. Still with a love and drive for the
job, he plays Horrigan perfectly. The scene in the break room after his
return to the Presidential detail is hysterically funny.
The
attempted romance between Russo and Eastwood is handled well and does
not overly complicate nor bog down the action and tension that is
building in the movie. It works to give the audience a chance to catch
our breath as we prepare for the next stage of the game of cat and
mouse.
Naturally, if you're going to give Eastwood a competent adversary, you want one of the best.
Cue
John Malkovich as the quietly explosive assassin. He wants the
challenge of beating Horrigan at the game. Bitter adversaries, yet with
equal amounts of respect for what each other does and each work to not
underestimate the other, because it will be costly to do so.
I would say it's been over a decade since I watched this one, and that's a shame because it really is an excellent film.
Final Grade: A
Rewatchability/Purchase
Factor: I do own it, and I'll have to put a sticky note to remind me
not to wait over a decade to watch this one again.
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