Narrow Margin

Blind dates can be murder; literally so, in Carol Hunnicut's (Anne Archer) case. She goes out with a lawyer who's gotten on the wrong side of his mob boss, Leo. After witnessing the murder of her date, the bewildered Carol takes a powder, and heads for Canada. There she's met by L.A. District Attorney Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman) who wants to bring her back to L.A. to testify. Unfortunately, a helicopter carrying Leo's henchmen also shows up, and the pair flee for the train station. Everybody boards the train for the long trip across the Canadian wilderness: the twist, and Caulfield's trump card, being that the thugs don't know what Carol looks like. Writer/director Peter Hyams (Outland) has a flair for suspense, and he does a fine job of milking the possibilities that the long train trip provides--everything from switching cabins to high-level corruption in the D.A.'s department. A remake of the 1952 B-movie thriller The Narrow Margin, Hyams' update is a well-orchestrated series of thrill and chills, with enough plot turns on its track to keep the audience spellbound. Recommended. (R. Pitman)