dakjets This film is made in Alfred Hitchcock's spirit. Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) is the only witness to a brutal murder. She becomes frightened and dare not tell anyone what she has seen. Robert Caulfield played by Gene Hackmann wants to find her so that the killer can be sentenced. But he is not the only one who seeks her. Rented killers is also looking for her. This is the beginning of this exciting movie, which has both action scenes, are dramatic and exciting to watch. Anne Archer plays convincingly as a scared witness, who does not want to come forward, but is forced to take a stand. Gene Hackmann is always good, convincing and fearless in this movie. I do not quite understand the relative low score here, I think the movie is a good one and is as exciting now as was when it came out in 1990.

MBunge A remake of a 1952, Narrow Margin manages to evoke not only an old way of life but a nearly vanished breed of filmmaking. This is an "R" rated action-thriller for actual grown ups. It's got some excitement, suspense and a few expletives, which back in 1990 guaranteed this thing an "R" but today might slip past as "PG-13", but the star of the movie is a spry 60, his leading lady is 42 and the storytelling is meant to appeal to viewers of that age without insulting their intelligence or taste. Outside of maybe the James Bond franchise, nobody really makes action-thrillers for an adult audience anymore. You basically just have to watch whatever cartoonish crap the kids are into.While on a blind date, Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) witnesses a murder. She flees to Canada to hide but because she's the only one who can connect a menacing mobster (Harris Yulin) to the killing, an insolent assistant DA named Caulfield (Gene Hackman) sets out to bring her back to Los Angeles to testify. After a deadly helicopter attack, Carol and Caulfield wind up trapped on a train as it chugs through the Canadian wilderness with two mob killers on board. With nowhere to run and only a few places to hide, the reluctant witness and the defiant prosecutor have to work together if they hope to survive.Made in a world before omnipresent cell phones and by a film industry that didn't turn every knob up to 11 for every second of screen time, Narrow Margin looks, feels and acts like a period piece. The setting is only slightly more familiar than the 1890s and the filmmaking has more in common with the 1940s than it does with today. So your reaction to this motion picture will depend on the diversity and leniency of you cinema palate. As put off as you are by the circumstance and the styling of the film, that's how much you'll be bothered by little plot holes and clunky sub plots. For example, Caulfield has several encounters with another woman on the train and they're such a blatant digression from the main story, you can't help but suspect they're leading to something, deflating the surprise when they do.If you keep an open mind, however, there's something to enjoy about a thriller that's more than an assembly line moving characters from one stunt extravaganza to another. Indeed, it's the personal dynamic between Carol and Caulfield that fills up most of the story, giving it a more honestly dramatic tone than usual. There's a good scene where Anne Archer gets to strut her stuff as Carol finally opens up and unloads on Caulfield and another when Caulfield gets tired of indulging his witness' reluctance and lays this blunt guilt trip on her. And when Caulfield finally gets a face-to-face meeting with the killers, it's a nice bit of business where James B. Sikking carries the action as the lead hit-man until Hackman steps in with his always surprising power to both end the discussion and propel the film forward into its final act.I wouldn't say Narrow Margin is a great film, though it does have a great cast. J.T. Walsh, M. Emmett Walsh and Harris Yulin are the sort of character actors that you can almost put them in any role, in any sort of tale, and they'll make it better through their presence. Seeing the aforementioned Sikking was enough to make me want to go watch some old episodes of Hill Street Blues and Nigel Bennet as the 2nd hit-man on the train almost makes me want to do the same with Forever Knight. When you've got someone like Hackman leading the way, it's essential that the other performers are able to keep up with him.Director Peter Hyams also makes good use of his train setting, both for thrills and other aspects of storytelling. I t's an inherently more interesting way to travel and offers up far more opportunities for physical movement than either flying or driving. The rooftop climax used here may somewhat pale when compared to the wire-fu, jump cut, CGI-frenzy of modern action sequences, but that's a bothersome bit of bar raising which is going to plague Hollywood for a very long time.Though dated, Narrow Margin is still worth seeing, especially when measured against the never ending torrent of misfires, failures and nigh-unwatchable garbage with which the movie industry assaults us. I prefer seeing an old film that's okay to a new one that sucks. Your mileage may vary.

writers_reign Much has been made here of the fact that this is yet another remake of a film widely considered to be a classic. On the whole I am not sympathetic to remakes of even non-classics simply because most of the films that inspire fond memories reflected that period in which they were made - how would Laura or Ninotchka for example look if remade today - and it is totally impossible to replicate 'feel'. On the face of it this remake is absurd: The black-and-white original made a virtue of necessity; it was a 'B' picture with a 'B' budget so Fleisher shot it all in a confined space and juggled the camera angles to great effect. The woman (Marie Windsor) was the wife of the gangster and hard as nails, not, as here, a more or less innocent bystander who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. By opening it out, creating a whole new exposition about the blind date we just lose valuable time that could have been concentrated - as in the original version - on the claustrophobic laced with danger train journey. The remake is not without the odd thrill but if both versions are freely available I can't see anyone settling for the remake.

suchenwi Cinematographers have loved trains since their very beginning (in 1896, L'arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat.. 1903, The Great Train Robbery, ...) I love movies, I love trains, so I'm of course very fond of movies that feature trains prominently: Keaton's General, La bête humaine, Murder on the Orient Express, Silver Streak, Under Siege 2, Train de vie, and a number of lesser ones.Narrow Margin is a nice addition to this collection. It presents views of West Canadian railroading, in good style, even though it doesn't offer spectacular stunts, like people or vehicles falling from high bridges, or crashing into some Union Station :^) The classic elements of running on cars' roofs, ducking before tunnels are included though. An off-train prelude builds up the situation, just to put all major players on the train, into the claustrophobic atmosphere, contrasted with wide landscape shots.Of course there's more plot etc., and nice details, like the water-pistol and the (too) tall bad lady. Nothing spectacular, but a pleasing experience all in all.