In the Line of Fire

( 4 )

Overview

Clint Eastwood delivers one of his finest performances, as a secret service agent haunted by his past in Wolfgang Petersen's taut thriller In the Line of Fire. Eastwood plays Frank Horrigan, a secret service agent who keeps thinking back to November 22, 1963, when, as an agent hand-picked by President Kennedy, he became one of the few agents to have lost a president to an assassin. Decades later, psychotic Mitch Leary John Malkovich is stalking another president Jim Curley running for re-election. He has spent ...
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Overview

Clint Eastwood delivers one of his finest performances, as a secret service agent haunted by his past in Wolfgang Petersen's taut thriller In the Line of Fire. Eastwood plays Frank Horrigan, a secret service agent who keeps thinking back to November 22, 1963, when, as an agent hand-picked by President Kennedy, he became one of the few agents to have lost a president to an assassin. Decades later, psychotic Mitch Leary John Malkovich is stalking another president Jim Curley running for re-election. He has spent long hours studying the psyche of Frank Horrigan, and he taunts Horrigan feeling that there is a bond between them, telling him of his plans to kill the president. After his conversation with Leary, Horrigan makes sure he is assigned to presidential protection duty. Horrigan has no intention of failing his president this time around, and he is more than willing to take a bullet. But everything goes Leary's way -- he is smart and cagey and the president's aides refuse to alter the itinerary. As the election draws closer, Horrigan's chances to catch Leary look to be less and less a possibility, and he begins to doubt his own abilities -- both now and in the past, when Kennedy was murdered.
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Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse
Clint Eastwood modified his taciturn tough-guy image to play a vulnerable, tormented Secret Service agent in this well-written, proficient 1993 thriller directed by Wolfgang Petersen The Perfect Storm. In the Line of Fire casts Clint as Frank Horrigan, a veteran agent still haunted by his failure to protect President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and fearful that he won't be equal to a similar challenge to the current president's safety. That fear is exploited by professional assassin Mitch Leary John Malkovich in one of his best screen characterizations, who plans to kill the prez and calls Frank periodically to taunt him. Rene Russo is excellent as a crisply efficient female agent, but it's the onscreen duel between Eastwood and Malkovich that provides Fire's sizzle. Clint makes Frank Horrigan a fully rounded character, displaying humor, imagination, determination, and painful awareness of his own limitations. Malkovich, likewise, plays Leary in three dimensions. His deliciously psychopathic villain -- a brilliant but ruthless killer with a twisted sense of humor -- is in the mold of Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter The Silence of the Lambs. This well-made thriller tingles with carefully calibrated suspense, but it's those lead performances that distinguish it from ordinary entries in this genre. The DVD Special Edition includes a commentary by Petersen, a Showtime-produced documentary on the Secret Service, deleted scenes, trailers, and TV spots.
All Movie Guide
Among the American films of German director Wolfgang Peterson, who achieved his international breakthrough with the submarine drama Das Boot (1981), In the Line of Fire may be the most respected and successful. The movie fulfills all the expectations that one might have for an action thriller. Much of the film's success owes to the performances of leads Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich. Eastwood turns in another variation of the loner role that he pioneered in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, but this is an older, mellower Eastwood, who adds more dimensions to his traditionally limited characters. His performance here is in the same weathered vein as his Oscar-winning work in Unforgiven. Malkovich, well-versed in playing demented geniuses, is equally convincing in the more extravagant role of the diabolical, chameleon-like, would-be assassin.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 4/22/1997
  • UPC: 043396837430
  • Original Release: 1993

    • Rating:

  • Source: Sony Pictures
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Clint Eastwood Frank Horrigan
John Malkovich Mitch Leary
Rene Russo Lilly Raines
Dylan McDermott Al D'Andrea
Gary Cole Bill Watts
Fred Dalton Thompson Harry Sargent
John Mahoney Sam Campagna
Jim Curley President
Sally Hughes First Lady
Clyde Kusatsu Jack Okura
Steve Hytner Tony Conducci
Tobin Bell Mendoza
Patrika Darbo Pam Magnus
John Heard Professor Riger
Robert Alan Beuth Man at Bank
Eric Bruskotter Young Agent
Richard G. Camphuis Party Fat Cat
Carl Ciarfalio CIA Agent Collins
Cylk Cozart Agent Cozart
Ryan Cutrona LAPD,Brass
Donna Hamilton Reporter at Dulles
Janet Hirshenson
Susan Lee Hoffman Woman at Bank
Rick Hurst Bartender
Jane Jenkins
Tyde Kierney Police Captain Howard
Michael Kirk Computer Technician/Bates
Aaron Michael Lacey Police Officer
Brian Libby FBI Supervisor
Lawrence Lowe FBI Technician
Walt MacPherson Hunter
Joshua Malina Agent Chavez
Anthony Peck FBI Official
Robert Peters Hunter
Elsa Raven Leary's Landlady
Juan A. Riojas Raul
William G. Schilling Sanford Riggs
Bob Schott Jimmy Hendrickson
Arthur Senzy Paramedic
Alan Toy Walter Wickland
Gregory Alan Williams Matt Wilder
Technical Credits
Wolfgang Petersen Director, Executive Producer
J. Apple Producer
Jeff Apple Producer
John Bailey Cinematographer
Anne V. Coates Editor
Jann K. Engel Set Decoration/Design
Janet Hirshenson Casting
John Horton Consultant/advisor
Jane Jenkins Casting
Gail Katz Executive Producer
Lilly Kilvert Production Designer
David Lester Production Designer
Kara Lindstrom Set Decoration/Design
Jeff Maguire Screenwriter
Ennio Morricone Score Composer
Erica Phillips Costumes/Costume Designer
Don Reddy Camera Operator
Bob Rosenthal Co-producer
Mike Stone Camera Operator
David Valdes Executive Producer
John Warnke Art Director
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(2)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(1)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    This is how a potboiler film should be made!!

    Wolfgang Petersen does an outstanding job bringing this story to the screen. Clint turns in another fine performance after Unforgiven and Malkovich- man what a maniacal performance! The scene where Horrigan learns Leary's identity and uses it to rankle him was phenomenal! What a great suspense film. Right up there with the 1st Manchurian Candidate.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 27, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 7, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 4, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews