Review: The Negotiator
You're Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson). Chicago resident, newly married, happy-go-lucky Joe. You're feted for preventing yet another psycho from killing his daughter. You're buddies with the guys at the precinct. You're one of Chicago's finest hostage negotiators. So how can it go wrong?
Precisely like this: your partner informs you that a number of cops on the force are scamming from the pension fund. Internal Affairs may be involved. Everything's been confirmed by an unnamed informant, your partner says. Soon thereafter, your partner is shot. You're found on the scene. They search your house. They find records of off-shore accounts. The murder weapon is a missing piece of evidence in a case you handled. Case closed. You're framed. What do you do?
If you're Danny Roman, you will march into the office of Niebaum (J.T. Walsh), the Internal Affairs inspector investigating you whom you suspect to be involved in the frame-up, and hold him hostage until he fesses up. In his office are his assistant and Rudy the Rat (Paul Giamatti). And your commander Frost (Ron Rifkin) makes four.
Enter Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey). Chicago's other negotiator par excellence. A distant colleague. A stranger with no ties to you or your department. You need him. You need to use him to weed out your partner's killer and the mastermind behind the conspiracy.
So goes The Negotiator, a gripping talkfest that derives its thrills not from car chases or explosions but rather from the verbal and psychological chess game between two masters. The push and pull, give and take, back and forth ricocheting is heightened by Roman's short fuse, which can be triggered by just about anything. The scene in which he reduces an inferior negotiator invokes uneasy laughter because you never know if Danny is kidding or not.
Watching Roman and Sabian match wits is the stuff of which dreams are made. Come to think of it, a film hasn't assembled this many character actors since John Huston rounded up the usual suspects in The Maltese Falcon. In the lineup: John Spencer and David Morse as the most suspicious of Danny's friends. Morse is so bulldogged in his eagerness to take every available shot at Danny that even the camera casts accusatory glances his way. Rifkin has the charm of a defanged snake, which serves him well especially in the closing moments of the film.
The death of J.T. Walsh is certainly a profound loss -- he never failed to be unforgettable in his supporting roles. In The Negotiator, he sweats eloquent beads as Danny pushes and prods him into admitting his wrongdoing. But with every loss, a gain: Paul Giamatti. Having already lit up the screen this year with sharp turns in The Truman Show, Dr. Dolittle and Saving Private Ryan, Giamatti establishes himself in The Negotiator as a formidable addition to the pantheon of character actors. As Rudy the Rat, he is comic relief supreme. Belly laughs are to be had by all whenever he speaks.
Jackson and Spacey, our star duo and a couple of character actors themselves, are electrifying. Both seduce with their unblinking stares and mellifluous voices. Jackson's bombastic, preacher-like cadence contrasts nicely with Spacey's serene cool. No one does unleashed fury better than Jackson -- he rants and rages like a caged Bengal tiger. Spacey retains his zen-like demeanor even after Morse and Spencer breach his authority.
Director F. Gary Gray (Set It Off) lends the film a sleek, polished urbanity. He wisely keeps the camera close to the actors. So close that you can detect every flicker, every spasm, every undercurrent of emotion that passes on the actors' faces. The grip does loosen when the denouement comes to pass though Spacey manages to hold it together. Until that point, The Negotiator is a crackling showcase for its two leads and the Character Actor All-Stars.
The Negotiator
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Written by: James DeMonaco, Kevin Fox
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh, Paul Giamatti, Regina Taylor, Dean Norris
