THE NEGOTIATOR

INTRODUCTION: When I first heard that Spacey and SLJ were to be teamed together for a taught police actioneer my immediate response was to start salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs. The thought of two of the most brilliantly passionate actors of their generation playing off one another in an intelligently scripted thriller from Demonaco and Fox was almost too much to resist. Throw in a supporting cast including the likes of Morse, Rifkin and Walsh and it does become too much to resist. Sadly Gray's film doesn't actually manage to match up to this promise.

SYNOPSIS: Celebrated Chicago police hostage negotiator Danny Roman (SLJ) cuts short his celebration of a particularly successful negotiation when his partner (Paul Guilfoyle) confides in him about corruption within their department. Despite promising his young wife Karen (Taylor) "no more crazy stuff" he finds himself arranging to meet his partner in a deserted park late a night. He arrives to find his partner murdered and himself framed for the crime.

After handing his badge and gun to Chief Al Travis (Spencer), Roman's life takes a change of course as he storms the internal affairs offices taking the department head Inspector Niebaum (Walsh), Niebaum's secretary, local snitch (Nestor Serrano), and his own colleague Commander Frost (Rifkin) hostage in a search for the truth.

When Roman's own team, lead by the trigger happy Commander Adam Beck (Morse), prove unable to talk Roman down, Chris Sabian (Spacey) another negotiator of Roman's acquaintance is brought in to negotiate with the negotiator.

REVIEW: The plot twists and turns to little effect as we've seen it all before. "No more crazy stuff" Roman promises his clich‚ cop wife, and how right he is as what follows contains little that is original or adventurous. In the space of 2 hours Demonaco & Fox manage to cram in every single clich‚ ever to grace a Hollywood Police film.

Old sparring partners SLJ and Spacey are re-united for the first time since "A Time ToKill", but to little effect as Spacey is given nowhere near enough to do and ultimately even the great SLJ can't overcome the limitations of a role that that was originally written to showcase the singular talent of one Mr. Sylvester Stallone.

The attractive but eminently forgettable Taylor provides a somewhat uninspired love interest, Morse, Rifkin and Spencer provide brilliant support in limited roles, constantly keeping us guessing as to their allegiances, and the ever reliable Walsh continues his reputation as the hardest working actor in Hollywood with another in the series of brilliant performances he has put in since his tragic death last year. (Amazing Dude! - Lizard)

Gray together with cinematographer Russell Carpenter and editor of Chris Wagner bring to the film the sort of slick realisation that they previously lent to pop promo's for the likes of Coolio and Ice Cube. Like much of that commercial work this film looks great but ultimately lack soul. Gray seems uneasy dealing with such trifles as performance and character development relying on the stylish visuals to carry the film.

Loosely based on a real-life incident that occurred in St Louis and shot entirely on location on the streets of Chicago the film has a gritty realism that is sadly lost amongst the mock heroics of an increasingly unbelievable script. A competently executed formula flick with the added presence of one of the greatest ensembles ever to grace the silver screen, don't expect to much and you should be entertained.

Mutt's Rating: ***

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