Movie Review: The Negotiator (1998)
The Negotiator (1998) |
The story begin when Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), a Chicago Police Department Hostage Negotiator that was celebrating his victory with other cops is approached by his partner Nate Roenick (Paul Guilfoyle). Nate tells Roman that some members of their own unit are embezzling a lot of money from the department's disability fund. When Roman goes to meet Nate again, he suddenly finds his friend murdered just a second before police arrive. Since Roman arrives there only seconds later after Paul murdered, he becomes the main suspect. Roman is also accused of embezzling funds from police pension fund and Chief Al Travis (John Spencer) asks him to take off his gun and badge. He is framed as a bad guy now. Knowing that something is wrong within his own department, he asks for a specific answer from Internal Affair investigator Terence Niebaum (J.T Walsh) about the truth and who set him up. Niebaum refuses to give the answer and Roman doesn't like the situation given to him, so he decides to become a hostage taker to clear his name after being accused of murder and theft. With the building evacuated and cops everywhere, Roman's asking one condition to the cops: there is only one negotiator he want to deal with, and that's Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), the city's other top negotiator who's not involved with anything about him. Eventually, Roman and Sabian come to trust each other and they want to reveal who is the real masterminds behind this conspiracy.
The Negotiator is directed by F. Gary Gray and it is one of the most skillful action-thriller movie I've ever watched, even though some part of this movie is hard to be understood. The acting of Jackson and Spacey is great. They can make the movie looks real and unexpected. I also agree that the movie's title really should have been plural, since the story concerns of two negotiators collaborated.
In conclusion, I guarantee that this movie will never disappoint you. This movie is not really perfect, but it's good enough to be one of those movies you might can't stop watch during your spare time.
Created By:
Monica Maharani Sitompul
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