The Negotiator (1998)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

F. Gary Gray

Country

United States

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Paul Guilfoyle, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh, Siobhan Fallon, Paul Giamatti, Regina Taylor, Bruce Beatty, Michael Cudlitz, Carlos Gómez, Tim Kelleher, Dean Norris, Nestor Serrano, Stephen Lee, Leonard Thomas, Robert David Hall

Plot

Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), a top Chicago Police Department hostage negotiator, is the victim of a conspiracy: he is charged with his partner's murder and with embezzlement from the department's disability fund.
To prove his innocence, Danny goes into the headquarter of the Department of Internal Affairs and takes as hostages several people including Terence Niebaum (J.T. Walsh), suspected by Roman to be part of the conspiracy.
He shifts from negotiator to abductor's shoes and he finds himself face to face with Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), another brilliant negotiator, called by Roman himself. Now it's up to Chris to save the hostages and bring Danny out alive.

Opinion

The Negotiator is a good action thriller film and spectacular in a couple of scenes; the duo Jackson-Spacey works fine, and they prove, once again, to be the best actors of their generation. It's nice seeing Spacey as the good guy. Great performance also by J.T. Walsh, who died several months before the film's release. 

Quotes

Chris Sabian: When your friends betray you, sometimes the only people you can trust are strangers.

Rating

8.0/10