Review of The Negotiator (1998) by Mouhannad S — 01 Dec 2010

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I absolutely LOVE great character-based action thrillers. (Okay, maybe I haven't said that before. But it is still absolutely true!) The Negotiator brims with great action and suspense, but the driving force behind both of those things is the interplay between two excellent characters. Both of these men, expert hostage negotiators, are used to situations where rules can change at any moment. Sometimes they even change the rules themselves. And when one of them realizes the only way to prove his own innocence is to take hostages himself, the other is placed in a position where doing his job and living up to a colleague's trust may prove mutually exclusive. The result is a nailbiting whodunit where no one knows how anything will resolve.

Kevin Spacey is very likely my favorite actor ever. He hasn't done all that much recently, but in the late 1990's he ruled the silver screen, and this film is no exception. His character is sharp, competent and authoritative but still retains humanity. When he evaluates the hostage situation, you can see him taking into account not only the danger to the hostages, but also the fact that an innocent but desperate man might be more likely to create that situation than a guilty one. Likewise, the excellently bad-ass Samuel L. Jackson brings a bit more understatement than usual to his role, and far from weakening the character, it actually makes him more believable. And the interplay between these two men--one who wants desperately to be trusted, and one who doesn't know who to trust--is fantastic, especially since none of their contact is face-to-face.

The supporting cast does a solid job in The Negotiator. It's especially nice to see David Morse and Regina Taylor, and the film also features an early comprimario by the brilliant Paul Giamatti. But they all seem to know that their job is simply to revolve around the two protagonists, and whether they play cops or hostages they do that very well. All in all, this is a very strong film, and it's easy to see its inspiration in more recent films like Inside Man.