In the Line of Fire
| Year: | 1993 |
| Production Co: | Castle Rock Entertainment |
| Studio: | Columbia |
| Director: | Wolfgang Petersen |
| Cast: | Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, John Mahoney, Tobin Bell |
Not quite the meeting of performing greats Heat was, but that's the hook in this fairly conformist thriller about an aging secret service bodyguard Frank (Eastwood) and the would-be assassin of the President, Mitch (Malkovich).
Mitch is actually more interested in connecting with Frank than killing the President, believing the whole thing to be a chess game of wits with a worthy equal he's getting off on playing.
A pretty classic cinematic cat-and-mouse game ensues, with lots of 'inside dope' dialogue from the world of high-level Presidential protectors.
The special effects of putting Eastwood's face into the frame with three actual Presidents is interesting, and the acting is indeed great, raising this just a few notches above an everyday entry into what was at the time a crowded genre but which many filmmakers find kind of embarrassing in this day and age. The last example was Michael Douglas vehicle The Sentinel.
Mitch is actually more interested in connecting with Frank than killing the President, believing the whole thing to be a chess game of wits with a worthy equal he's getting off on playing.
A pretty classic cinematic cat-and-mouse game ensues, with lots of 'inside dope' dialogue from the world of high-level Presidential protectors.
The special effects of putting Eastwood's face into the frame with three actual Presidents is interesting, and the acting is indeed great, raising this just a few notches above an everyday entry into what was at the time a crowded genre but which many filmmakers find kind of embarrassing in this day and age. The last example was Michael Douglas vehicle The Sentinel.