Review of The Negotiator (1998) by Kc R — 09 Nov 2009

Hostage thrillers are a dime a dozen, just like Mystery thrillers or Erotic thrillers. They all have the same basic plot if you look close enough, but once in a blue moon you get a Hostage thriller that blows your mind in ways you couldn't even imagine and that film just happens to be, The Negotiator.

The Negotiator is a movie that I missed and I don't know how, It's everything you could want in a potboiler thriller. It's taunt, brilliant and complex. In the movie you don't know who is telling the truth and who is lying, It's that complicated and trust me when I say this you won't know who did what and what really happened until the very end. The Negotiator is a film that resonates with the very best of film making It's a high class, High tension wire show that sure to please you if not blow your brains out.

Samuel L. Jackson is in top form in this movie as the framed Maverick hostage negotiator that has made a good living out of saving hostages lives, now he has to take hostages to stay alive. Jackson brings the tension and the power to this film and is perfectly cast in his role. Kevin Spacey is also at the top of his game here as the number 2 top hostage negotiator in the film, Spacey brings the caring nature, the calmness and the methodical thinking to the film. With Spacey and Jackson contrasting themselves fiercely in this movie the tension rises and the power soars until the pot finally boils over.

The Negotiator is a film that you don't really see coming, It's the type of film that if you don't watch carefully you will be completely lost. It's a great suspense thriller and also a great entry in the Hostage thriller genre. In my opinion this film is what Inside Man became later, The Negotiator set the benchmark for all other Hostage films to follow as to date I haven't seen one since Spike Lee's Inside Man that has really enthralled me and captured m undivided attention all the way through. But I do have on request if you do watch this movie. Watch very,very closely because nobody and nothing is what it seems.