In the Line of Fire (1993)

Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan couldn't save Kennedy, but he's determined not to let a clever assassin take out this president. Thanks to 2 amazing performances by Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich In the Line of Fire is an action heavy, full of tension thriller about a man who wants to kill the President of the Unite States of America. What i love about this film is how well done is directed the characters are likable, the tension and the build up is very well done and the acting is very good mostly from the 2 men tho. Also they did a great job with showing a young Eastwood next to John F. Kennedy and like i said this is one hell of a movie that you shouldn't miss either if you're a fan of action movies or Eastwood in general.

Wolfgang Peterson is a well-known film director from Germany, best known for his action- packed, high calibre blockbusters. In The Line Of Fire is his first American thriller at the highest level. Peterson broke out in 1981's Das Boot, the best German epic ever. The Neverending Story showed his versatility and In The Line Of Fire cemented his legacy and best-known genre to tackle: a political thriller. Only Wolfgang Peterson could have made a movie this exciting.I have no interest in politics, but I found this movie to be thoroughly engaging and very fun. It is about a Secret Service Agent (Eastwood) who is haunted by his failure to save John F. Kennedy. A psychotic madman (Malkovich) toys with him, saying he plans on assassinating the current president. Eastwood does a job well-done in acting, one of the best he's ever done (I'd say). But John Malkovich steals the show in every scene he's in. I'm surprised the American Film Institute didn't put him on their list of 50 Greatest Villains. He's sure better than some that made the cut. Many political thrillers aren't really interesting to me. There's too much talk about the different parties and subjects that only avid news watchers would like. In The Line Of Fire is about battling a hit-man. The political bit don't get in the way at all. Since there's many subplots about the characters that tie together very well, the strength makes it outweigh most other flicks like this. To top it all off, Wolfgang Peterson gives us a picture with a direction that only the best can do. Any perilous thriller like this is a sure winner, but Peterson does more. He treats Malkovich's character like an actual monster. Similar to what John Carpenter did with Michael Myers in the original Halloween, we do not really see Malcovich's character into part way through the movie. He uses lighting and camera tricks to keep him a mystery, a thing. After a while, at the right point, he had to have been shown. Does Peterson stop his clever tricks? No. That is just when they begin.

It's amazing what 20 years will do for a movie's impact, because I remembered IN THE LINE OF FIRE being a lot more . . . thrilling. Aside from Malkovich's off-the-scales creepiness, this movie's fairly by-the- numbers for most of its runtime. But it's in the last thirty minutes or so that things finally heat up. The case gets cracked, the assassin makes his attempt, there's a hostage standoff in and around the Bonaventure hotel (nice to see it like this in a movie) and Eastwood - who up until this point was best at scowling and slamming phones - actually becomes a sympathetic character.I don't know if I want to sit through it again, but all that back-end action is enough to leave me (almost) satisfied.6/10

If you can stand the Hollywood Conceit of Romance with Sloppy kissing and groping between a Geezer and a Thirty-Something Hottie you might give this one a Pass because it is an Above Average Thriller with a Venomous Villain. If you can believe Clint Eastwood as a Jazz Pianist you might give this a Pass because it has much more going for it.There are a number of Suspenseful Set-Pieces and John Malkovich without doubt steals the Film from the One-Note Eastwood who really struggles delivering Lines at times and is unwatchable as He exchanges Loving Stares with Rene Russo. Overall, this is kept from sinking to Cringe inducing Territory by a Multi-Faced Malkovich that is as Creepy as they come. It moves along at a brisk pace and it needs too as it moves quickly from badly Written exchanges and exposition Scenes among Good Ol Boy Ballbusting and a predictable Sub-Plot with a Partner that is never fleshed out and comes across as totally Contrived.A Watchable Film that tries just a little too hard to be Heady, and the best of it outweighs those excruciating Filler bits and delivers an Entertaining, but Puffed-Up Piece of Product.