Review of The Negotiator (1998) by Marta R — 06 Feb 2015

Directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job (2003) Be Cool (2005) Law Abiding Citizen (2009)), and written by James DeMonaco (Jack (1996) and The Purge (2013)) and Kevin Fox (TV's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)), this action thriller was partially based on a real scandal that occured within the St.

Louis Police Department in the late 1980's, which is used to drive the plot in this twisting thriller. In Chicago, Lieutenant Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson) is one of the top hostage negotiators in the city.

After a successful operation, he finds himself being warned by colleague Nathan Roenick (Paul Guilfoyle) about large sums of money being embezzled from the disability fund of the police force. When Roenick turns up dead, Roman ends up being prime suspect.

Internal Affairs investigator Niebaum (J.T. Walsh finds evidence that Roman stole the money. With no-one believing him, Roman takes matters into his own hands, and takes Niebaum and a few others hostage and won't talk to anyone but Lt.

Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), who was Roenick's informant. It's a good thriller and Jackson and Spacey make a good pairing, even though they don't share the screen until much later on in the film.

But, it makes for a good film, a lot of 90's action thrillers end up dating badly, but this one hasn't, it still stands up today, and it's one which has brains as well as brawn.