The Negotiator (1998)
Directed by F. Gary Gray
The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.
5 connections found
View:
5 connections, in both directions
What critics compared The Negotiator to
Seth (Giovanni Ribisi: Saving Private Ryan, The Postman ) doesn't know this when he joins the firm, though -- he thinks he's taking a job that will earn him the respect of his demanding, hard-to-please father (Ron Rifkin: The Negotiator, L.A. Confidential ), a judge.
Supporting performances from the likes of Nia Long ("The Best Man," "Soul Food"), Ron Rifkin ("The Negotiator," "L.A. Confidential") and Tom Everett Scott ("The Love Letter," "That Thing You Do") are generally okay, but often suffer from underdeveloped and - in the case of Seth's father -- occasionally unbelievable character development.
Like the thieves they feature, director F. Gary Gray ("A Man Apart," "The Negotiator") and writers Donna Powers & Wayne Powers ("Valentine," "Deep Blue Sea") have lifted the car, the traffic jam and some of the same basic plot from the Hollywood vaults for their remake of the film that naturally arrives with the same moniker.
But it's directed with some grace and snap by F. Gary Gray (of the excellent Set It Off, the lackluster if shrewdly cast The Negotiator, and the failed Vin Diesel entry A Man Apart earlier this year), with dialogue by Donna and Wayne Powers that sounds as if they had some laughs while typing it.
The intricacies and unforeseen snags of the plot are at least as exciting as the car chases, and the fact that Gray ( "The Negotiator" ) embraced -- even enhances -- this fact is part of what makes this film the first real cineplex stand-out of the summer.
Director Gray ("Friday," "The Negotiator") zips the action along like his patriotically painted Minis and there's some nice chemistry to be had between Wahlberg and Theron (Norton's performance, however, borders on the bored).
A The Negotiator-like acting platform between these two would have been incredible.
Writer-director James DeMonaco, whose less-than-stellar screenplay credits include “The Negotiator” and “Skinwalkers,” is not engaging in a science-fiction thought experiment.
Here’s another thing: plausible or not, with this conceit writer-director James DeMonaco (who wrote Assault on Precinct 13 and The Negotiator ) has found a prism through which to do something extraordinary with the genre.
Writer/director James DeMonaco ("The Negotiator") makes his directorial debut based on a provocative idea about America's growing economic divide, but he guts his own premise by both showing his hand too early and obviously, by howling lapses of logic and with weak direction of his actors.
While his director credits are short (this film and an indie flick called Little New York), his writing resume includes such memorable (but still B-movie-level) thrillers like The Negotiator and the 2005 Assault on Precinct 13 remake, which also starred Ethan Hawke.
Mr. DeMonaco (the co-writer of The Negotiator and Assault on Precinct 13, making his directorial debut here) manages to explain how “the purge” works, and why our government has deemed it not only necessary but actually cathartic, but most of the interesting stuff is delivered in hurried fashion via TV news-flashes.
As co-writer of the “Assault on Precinct 13” remake and “The Negotiator,” DeMonaco knows how to wring suspense from a simple scenario — letting the Sandins defend their home with smart, barbarous efficiency.
Advertisement
But in this remake, written by James DeMonaco ( "The Negotiator" ), many plot points are too obvious (like who among the precinct's defenders will become a traitor) and many more are questionable.
Matching the excellent work of these actors, director Jean-Francois Richet (All About Love) moves James DeMonacos (The Negotiator) smart screenplay along with fast-paced action, and cinematographer Robert Gantz (Mindhunters) makes the most of the wintry setting as well as the close quarters of jail cells and a run-down building.