Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey
Director: F Gary Gray (Set It Off, Friday)
Previews Shown: Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Blade,
I really did want, so desperately, to like The Negotiator. It had just about every aspect that I love in movies. It had a new, fresh, hip, potentially suspense filled plot. It had the element of mystery, mixed with some action, and some comedy. Most of all, it had two of my favorite actors working these days Samuel L. Jackson (who has the role of calmly cool, yet coldly brutal and underbrimming, down to an art form) and Kevin Spacey (whose Oscar-winning, yet still underrated performance in my favorite movie, The Usual Suspects, still blows me away, along with continued impressive turns in Swimming With Sharks, LA Confidential, and A Time To Kill) together on the same screen. Let alone the fact that the movie presents a potential meeting-of-the minds, chess-style conflict between them. I envisioned a duel, a gunfight at the Plateglass Corral, a Hagler-Leonard type meeting of the irresistible force and the immovable object. With these lofty expectations in mind, maybe I set my standards a bit too high, but I feel I was let down.
The movie is basically about a hostage negotiator (Jackson), who is accused of embezzlement, and snaps, taking hostages of his own. He knows the rules, and how things work, so that turns up the ante a bit. He calls for his own negotiator (Spacey) to deal with, since he has doubts about those around him. This sets up wonderfully, tension builds, the situation sets up, but somewhere, I think, it loses something. The strong point of this movie is the performances. Spacey, a bit off, screaming more than acting sometimes, but still bringing his usual dedication and intensity, while all amongst him is amiss, and does an effective job (although somehow, after winning an Oscar, the bar gets raised a bit, Spacey has cleared his previous hurdles, but seems to hit the bar here). Jackson, is always reliable, he brings an angered energy and desperation to his role, and holds the movie together.
My problem, as I try and dissect it, is with the plot, it seems confused at points. I lost track, about halfway through, of what the conflict truly was. I also had problems with the pacing of the movie, I felt there were a few scenes that dragged a bit. Every scene in the movie was necessary, but some were dwelled on more than others. Other points, involving character details and plot points, bothered me as well, lacking consistency. But since I refuse to reveal or ruin them, I won't say anything here, if you want to discuss or ask me about them later, feel free.
This is not a bad movie, any movie with those two in it, as well as strong supporting performances from David Morse and (in one of his final roles) J.T. Walsh, who has long been a favorite character actor of mine. He can be seen again this fall in Pleasantville, this film, however, was dedicated to Walsh.
I think it could've been better, more showdowns, less dwelling, and a either a simpler plot, or more detailed explanation. This plays to me like a solid movie of the week, but I would recommend as at least a video rental, for Spacey, and Jackson.