In the Line of Fire

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, In the Line of Fire follows aging Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) as he finds himself drawn into a plot to assassinate the president by a lone psychopath (John Malkovich’s Mitch Leary). It’s clear immediately that In the Line of Fire derives a considerable amount of mileage from the irresistibly antagonistic relationship between the two central characters, with the pair’s ongoing phone calls, which easily stand as an obvious highlight within the proceedings, effectively ratcheting up the tension as they grow more and more virulent as time progresses. Filmmaker Petersen, who kicks the film off with as engrossing and attention-grabbing a sequence as one could envision, does a superb job of infusing the movie’s action-oriented moments with a palpably exciting and suspenseful feel, while both Eastwood and Malkovich manage to consistently elevate the occasionally flabby narrative with their typically stellar work. (At over two hours, In the Line of Fire probably could’ve used a few more passes through the editing bay.) And while the romantic subplot between Eastwood and a much younger fellow agent (Rene Russo’s Lilly Raines) is questionable (although the chemistry between the actors ultimately redeems it), In the Line of Fire ultimately comes off as a seriously superior thriller that remains, more than 20 years later, one of the best examples of the genre.

***1/2 out of ****