In the Line of Fire

1993 "An assassin on the loose. A president in danger. Only one man stands between them…"
7.2| 2h8m| R| en| More Info
Released: 08 July 1993 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling himself "Booth" threatens the life of the current President, forcing Horrigan to come back to protection detail to confront the ghosts from his past.

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Lee Eisenberg It's generally safe to assume that most movies starring Clint Eastwood will feature him getting tough on bad guys. Wolfgang Petersen's Academy Award-nominated "In the Line of Fire" doesn't have that to quite the same extent, but you should have a sense of what Clint does. The movie really belongs to John Malkovich as the villain. His character is one nasty but clever son of a b****. Rene Russo didn't get enough screen time, but there is one scene that lets her go all out; nonetheless, I'd like to see her get a lead role.Basically, it's nothing special, but it doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not. Watch for appearances by Fred Thompson (later a senator and presidential candidate), John Heard (the dad in "Home Alone") and the recently deceased John Mahoney, as well as early appearances of Dylan McDermott (of "The Practice" and "American Horror Story"), Tobin Bell (Jigsaw in the Saw franchise) and Joshua Malina (Pres. Siebert on "The Big Bang Theory").
Matt Greene We don't often get protagonist from the secret service, especially one who worked during the Kennedy assassination. It's a great concept for a story, but the real hero here is actually the villainous Malkovich. Gotta be among the best antagonists in film; menacing and smart, he's not the kind of villain you empathize with, but are definitely compelled by. Unfortunately, the central romance is obnoxious, the ending is a bit anti-climactic, and the film is a little too long.
seymourblack-1 "In The Line Of Fire" is a real crowd-pleaser that contains plenty of action, suspense and humour but also distinguishes itself from most similar thrillers because of its engaging plot, its well fleshed-out characters and its excellent dialogue. Its greatest asset, however, is its totally deranged villain who plans to assassinate the President. His dual with a tough but vulnerable secret service agent is at the heart of virtually everything that happens and provides the movie with much of its impetus as well as some interesting insights into the psychological preoccupations of the two men.Veteran secret service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) is haunted by the memory of the day in November 1963 when he was guarding President Kennedy but failed to save him from being assassinated. That incident left him doubting whether he had the courage needed to risk his own life to save the President's and the guilt that he'd suffered since led him to drinking too much and suffering the breakdown of his marriage. When he receives a phone call from a man who threatens to kill the President, Horrigan seizes the opportunity to return to the Presidential Protection Detail because doing so could offer him the chance to redeem himself.The potential assassin turns out to be a disillusioned ex-CIA agent called Mitch Leary (John Malkovich) who's very bitter about the way he'd been treated by the government and is seeking to take revenge by killing the President. He's obviously read a great deal about Horrigan's background and sees certain parallels in their experiences. Leary is very cool, clever and cunning and clearly has the ability to carry out his threat. He's also determined and recognises that he has "a rendezvous with death".In his new role, Horrigan starts a relationship with a fellow agent, Lilly Raines (Rene Russo) and also runs into trouble with the Presidential Chief Of Staff, Harry Sargent (Fred Dalton Thompson) who orders him off the Detail when he raises the alarm at one of the President's re-election rallies after mistaking the sound of a bursting balloon for a gun shot. Horrigan then takes matters into his own hands and pursues his quarry until they eventually confront each other in the movie's exciting climax.In a movie which is full of good performances, the contributions of Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich stand out. Frank Horrigan is something of a misfit among his colleagues due to his age, his sexism and his lack of fitness which becomes most apparent when he runs breathlessly alongside the President's car. He knows he's seen as a "borderline burn-out with questionable social skills" but also knows that his instincts are intact and despite being regarded as a dinosaur and being subjected to Leary's mind games, knows he has the experience and confidence to hunt down his adversary.Clint Eastwood, in one of his most subtle performances, strikes the perfect balance in portraying his piano-playing tough guy's interesting combination of strengths and weaknesses and John Malkovich is wonderfully creepy as the dangerous psychopath whose CIA training and brilliant use of disguises make him a formidable threat and just the type of top class villain that this superior thriller deserves.
classicsoncall When I watched this film the other evening, what struck me from the perspective of having been around when John F. Kennedy was assassinated was how familiar all the press clippings appeared to be in Mitch Leary's apartment. The pictures and headlines were ubiquitous in the aftermath of the assassination, and it struck me how viewers born after that event will never have that same kind of perspective. Not sure if that really means anything, but it's something I've been thinking about since watching the picture.Considering Clint Eastwood's character to be one of the Secret Service agents assigned to the Kennedy detail, I'm glad the film writers didn't take the approach of making Frank Horrigan a discombobulated mental case because of the assassination. Eastwood displayed just the right amount of angst over his connection to Dallas without obsessing about it. Casting John Malkovich against Horrigan as the disgruntled ex-CIA agent was a brilliant move, he exhibited a cold menace in the early going to keep Horrigan off balance. There was a great line he used to taunt Horrigan with when he said "What do you see when you're in the dark and the demons come?" Without knowing anything about how the Secret Service actually operates, the film had some interesting points to make about protecting the president. There was also the upcoming election intrigue taking into account the president's standing in the polls and how the Chief of Staff (Fred Thompson) obsessed about closing that gap with personal appearances in light of a credible threat. Another interesting observation which can only be made in hindsight, is the phony name used by Leary early in the picture when he was calling himself James Carney. How could anyone know that in 2014, the presidential press secretary would be someone named Jay Carney. It calls to mind all those weird coincidences when considering the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln.