The Negotiator

Sometimes it's obvious that a film isn't about the plot, it's about the names above the title. Just as Cocktail was about Tom Cruise smiling and mixing drinks, and Up Close and Personal was about Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer sharing soft-focus love scenes, The Negotiator is really about a psychological chess match between Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, two of the most intensely intelligent actors in film. If The Negotiator had delivered on that promise, it would have been one of those rare cases where a "personality plot" was the right choice. Instead, it spends too much time setting up who's behind the conspiracy to frame police negotiator Jackson for murder and fraud, forcing him to take hostages and out-think fellow negotiator Spacey to clear his name. Is it the internal affairs inspector? Jackson's grandfatherly commander? The hard-nosed mission commander? Who cares? For all the sound and fury surrounding both the conspiracy and the attempts to take Jackson by force, The Negotiator is built on the clash of two characters who win not by shooting faster, but by thinking faster. When those two characters lock wits and eyes, each struggling to size the other up and determine whether he's an ally or an adversary, The Negotiator is compelling stuff, but the moments just don't come often enough. Spacey doesn't make his first appearance until nearly 45 minutes have passed, leaving plenty of time for the film to detour onto well-worn action-suspense avenues. It could have been and should have been more than another Die Hard clone, more than an over-long mystery where you begin to feel you should leave as soon as you figure out the real bad guy. The Negotiator should have played to the strength of its cast. It's a disappointing reverse-tease: with two great stars to show off, it has the nerve to go and offer us a plot. Optional. (S. Renshaw)[Blu-ray Review—Nov. 10, 2009—Warner, 139 min., R, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1998's The Negotiator is presented with a decent transfer and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include the “On Location: Why Chicago” making-of featurette (17 min.), “The 11th Hour: Stories from Real Negotiators” featurette (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven thriller.]