"You are NOT in control here!"      

THE NEGOTIATOR (R) 

Reviewed August 2, 1998 - Check out The Negotiator Website.

When expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson) gets framed for the murder of his partner, he turns the tables around on his friends at the Chicago Police department, taking hostages of his own on the 20th floor of a downtown Federal building.  Roman's desperate, he's upset, and he refuses to negotiate with anyone except for Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), a fellow negotiator from the other side of the city.  Sabian is a man Roman doesn't know, but he is also a man Roman believes he can trust to help clear his name.  That's the setup for The Negotiator, an action-suspense thriller directed by F. Gary Gray (Set it Off). 

The first half hour of The Negotiator is a predictable and uninspired piece of filmmaking, an opening that seems sloppily put together in order to rush us off to the meeting between Roman and Sabian.  Fortunately, Roman and Sabian do finally meet, and when they do The Negotiator really begins to fly.  With Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey both at their confident best, The Negotiator is a film that manages to develop into an intense and riveting chessmatch between the two expert negotiators.  The chemistry between Jackson and Spacey is, needless to say, extraordinary, with each actor presenting us a textured and intelligent character that we want to follow throughout the film.  Indeed, if The Negotiator had focused strictly on these two characters, then it would've been a great movie.  Unfortunately, we are not that lucky. 

Punctuated by irrational and generally distracting action sequences where the Chicago police try to bypass the negotiations and "take Roman out" (i.e. kill him) on their own, The Negotiator becomes a film of contrasts.  There is, of course, the contrast between the negotiators who want to settle matter with words rather than guns, but there is also the contrast between the absolutely riveting performances of Jackson and Spacey, and the relatively dull performances of almost everybody else in the movie.  With the notable exception of a couple of wisecracking hostages who keep the mood light (nicely played by Paul Giamatti and Siobahn Fallon), all the other characters seem as if they were extracted from other pictures and inserted (dialog and all) into this film. 

It is perhaps a tribute to Jackson and Spacey that despite this fact, The Negotiator still manages to be a watchable and engaging film.  Yup, I did enjoy The Negotiator, and I really enjoyed some of the wonderful exchanges between the two protagonists.  However, with two such intelligent and charismatic characters duking it out on screen, it was hard not to notice the cardboard cliche quality of other characters.  It's too bad that the filmmakers felt the need to insert so many gun-blazing, "full breach" attempts into an already engaging plot...it's like that proverbial elephant in the china shop--it's great if you want to watch a lot of china breaking, but not so great if you're trying to appreciate the fine china.

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

toryspace@uswestmail.net gives this movie  stars: "What can I say about a movie that has everything you need in it, except that it has everything you need in it! I loved it...there wasn't a single thing I'd change about it, except making Kevin the star!" (2/13/00)

reginahudson@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "i saw the negotiator a million times already and still get goose bumps.kevin spacey does this one excellent.kevin your #1 baby." (7/23/99)

sakara.ivy@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "I thought this movie was incredible...Im a big fan of Kevin Spacey...Ive already seen it three times, and I never get tired of watching it, especially cuz of spacey and jackson sparring...even thought it was, apparently, long. (i didnt realize this however, until i looked at the time when the movie was over, lol)" (4/12/99)

beebsz@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "the movie was great but it should have more action and suspend to creat the real effect to the audience.in overall........... it's fun to watch!!" (11/27/98)

Jenny Vander Schoor gives this movie  stars: "I'll admit it.. I didn't want to see this movie, but after being dragged to the theater I was pleasantly suprised. This film ranks up there with L.A. Confidential." (11/10/98)

Sullivan Gray gives this movie  stars: "This was the best movie of the summer. Jackson is prehaps the most underrated actor in Hollywood, having a certain rhythm to his speech that others lack. Spacey is awesome, too, but Jackson owns the film." (9/28/98)

maryu17@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "i loved it, it was one of the best movies i've ever seen. kevin spacey deserves an oscar for this one. samuel is exelent in the movie, the theme is great and the action is too." (8/26/98)

A. Wood gives this movie  stars.