The Negotiator (1998)

The Negotiator (1998)

 

7/10

Starring

Samuel L. Jackson

Kevin Spacey

David Morse

 

Directed by F. Gary Gray

 

Awesome movies will forever standout and wade through time to remain relevant. The Negotiator bases itself on the ability to deliver a simple story on strong dialogues and outstanding performances. Not setting you on characters, but allowing you to be swallowed by the captivating performances of the two leads, as they try to navigate the conspiracy before them

I like the way the movie just leaves everything in the air about who to trust and who not to, when the cloud starts to clear the movie still leaves you in the dark on who and who can be trusted. Even in the dramatic ending of the film, our lead Danny (Samuel L. Jackson) finally gets to know the truth and still the movie makes you doubt if you have finally got everything that is going on.

The plot introduces us to Danny a hostage negotiator and we later find out one of the board members of the disability fund for his department. His friend Roenick has been investigating the fund, discovering that money has been going missing. He tells Danny about it, telling him he was able to get the information from an informant. Things took a turn when Roenick was murdered when he was supposed to be meeting with Danny. Danny was the chief suspect (as first one on the scene) and things got worse when they discover an offshore bank account in his name with some suspicious balance. He was now under the hammer for murder and embezzling. Danny was suspended even though he claimed innocence. He decided to confront the lead Internal Affairs investigator, Neibaum and it was there Danny when faced with a struggle decided to do something drastic. He took Niebaum hostage along with one of the officers from his precinct and two other people. He then requested to only deal with another hostage negotiator a stranger to him from another precinct, Sabian (Kevin Spacey).

We are now watching as things get more twisted and Danny seems to be way above his head as many are willing to kill him and others want to end everything in a blood bath to protect their involvement.

The movie was a mild box-office success, but a strong critical one. Even after seeing this movie numerous times back in the early 2000s, seeing it now, still had me hung on the screen to the end.

This movie stands tall on the list of notable movies directed by Gray, and for me this is my favorite from his list and one of Jackson’s best performances.