Movie review: ‘In the Line of Fire’

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Clint Eastwood is one of my all-time heroes in cinema. He’s taken me from World War II (“Kelly’s Heroes” with Don Rickles – click here for my review – or “Where Eagles Dare” with Richard Burton – click here for my review) to the streets of San Francisco (“Dirty Harry” – click here or my review) to even bare knuckles brawling (“Every Which Way but Loose” – click here for my review). Along the way he was dismissed by high-handed critics about his popular films and finally established himself as the Hollywood icon his early fans knew he would become. With his “In the Line of Fire,” Eastwood gave John Malkovich the chance to take a strange and eclectic character and make it a winner. Malkovich hit a home run, nabbed an Oscar nod for it and so everyone wins with this one.

‘In the Line of Fire’
(1993; 128 minutes; rated R; directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo)

REDEMPTION ISN’T EASY FOR SOME MEN

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia, by noting the deaths of two supporting actors and the updating of links on March 23, 2019.)

Clint Eastwood is rarely involved in an uneven film – you know, one that has some tall highs and a few stumbles along the way. I’m not saying he cannot be in bad films (just check out “Sudden Impact” if you don’t believe me), but what I’ve found is that his good films are usually solid throughout. However, that is not so with the Secret Service thriller “In the Line of Fire.”

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“In the Line of Fire” stumbles with some stereotypes, a sometimes deficient plot and weak acting at times, but is saved completely by John Malkovich as the moody, deranged assassin with his sights set on the president. He did such a good job that he earned his second Oscar nomination for it after his first from 1984 with “Places in the Heart.”

“In the Line of Fire” never had the chance to be as good as Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (click here for my review), which is Clint’s best western effort – even over “Unforgiven” and its four Oscars – but the subject matter here  almost guaranteed it to be better than his bare knuckles fighting films including “Any Which Way You Can” (click here for my review) or the general cheesiness of the modern-day military story “Heartbreak Ridge” – even the U.S. Marine Corps reportedly complained about the profanity and stereotypical slurs in that one.

The plot looks simple for “In the Line of Fire,” as Eastwood is Secret Service agent “Frank Horrigan” and he and his partner get on the trail of man who is stalking the president. The simple plot turns somewhat diabolical when it’s discovered that the assassin is actually a trained killer used by the U.S. government who has gone over the edge and is now is going after the president. The subplot here is that Eastwood was on duty during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the loss of the president had destroyed him emotionally and he’s still looking for redemption. Oh, and throw in Rene Russo as Agent “Lily Raines” as the female lead – she’s here six years before setting movie screens smoldering in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” (click here for my review).

Eastwood and his partner continue to try to track Malkovich, who enjoys calling Eastwood for chats in a somewhat psychotic dance between the two men. Of course, there are bumps in the road including Eastwood’s butting heads with the current presidential detail supervisor, his partner’s ongoing wish to get out and finally his humiliation in misidentifying a gun near the president. Still, it all comes together in the end and Clint comes out the hero (of course).

Now, let me look at some of the cast …

  • Although Eastwood is the star power here, he takes a backseat each time Malkovich appears on screen. Malkovich as the killer named “Mitch Leary” calls himself “Boothe” in early conversations with Eastwood (John Wilkes … get it?) and so smoothly and with wonderful ability crafts a memorable character. He’s so good that he might have even wound up on the Secret Service’s watch list (except his character died). Malkovich was also in “Empire of the Sun” and the poker movie “Rounders” as “Teddy K.G.B.” (click here for my review).
  • I’ve written it before and probably will again, but Eastwood is good at being Eastwood and he is Eastwood here. He’s got a limited range of emotion (and I’m not just talking granite to marble) and he is the quintessential good guy with flaws. He is battling back after slipping into the bottle following the Kennedy assassination and he conveys this well and does good work with Russo. Eastwood has tried everything from westerns to cop to even a disc jockey being stalked by a homicidal woman in “Play Misty for Me” as well as directing the big-screen version of the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys.”
  • Russo does a good job here, but not up the standard she would set for herself later in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair.” Russo just doesn’t have a character that she could develop as well as others in her career. She’s also done great work in “Major League” (click here for my review) as well as the golf wanna-be-but-isn’t-classic “Tin Cup” (click here for my review). I like her best in the forgotten but absolutely great comedy “Big Trouble” with Tim Allen (click here for my review).
  • As law enforcement partners go, Golden Globe winner and two-time nominee (not for this one) Dyland McDermott as Agent “Al D’Andrea” becomes a bit of a whiner and gun-shy after a close call with Eastwood early in the film. However, he does a good job of a man not having the heart for the job anymore and winds up doing an OK job with his doomed character. McDermott is most recognized from TV’s “The Practice,” for which he got his Globe and nominations and was also in “Olympus has Fallen” and “Party Monster.”
  • Gary Cole, who you might remember as “Mr. Brady” in “The Brady Bunch Movie” and its sequel, steps out of his sometimes eclectic characters (take “Bill Lumbergh” in “Office Space” – click here for my review) here as the straight-laced “Bill Watts,” who is the head of the Secret Service’s presidential protection unit. He does a good but not remarkable job and has also been in “Pineapple Express” and “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” Cole is a perennial supporting actor, but almost never disappoints.
  • The head of the Secret Service is “Sam Campagna” and he’s played by superb supporting actor and two-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) John Mahoney, who does a good job as Eastwood’s friend and confidant. Mahoney owns these kind of roles (check out his work as “Shorty” in the little-remembered “Betrayed” – click here for my review) and is most recognized and got his nominations for his work on TV’s “Frasier” with Kelsey Grammer. Mahoney died at 77 in 2018 of lung cancer.
  • A Primetime Emmy nominee, John Heard, who was the co-star in “Betrayed,” does a bunch with a small role as “Professor Riger” and helps the agents continue on Malkovich’s trail. Heard, who is another actor who almost always gave a solid performance, is most recognized as the dad in “Home Alone” and its first sequel as well as being the bad guy in the wonderfully twisted Wayans film “White Chicks” (click here for my review). Among is best roles was a doomed detective on HBO’s magnificent series “The Sopranos” and he died at 71 in 2017 of a heart attack.

The unevenness here comes from a severe drop-off of noticeable work by other supporting actors. Even Fred Dalton Thompson, whose signature voice always marks him as a politician or military officer, can’t elevate his character, presidential Chief of Staff “Harry Sargent.” Thompson was also in “Barbarians at the Gate” (click here for my review) in the same year as “In the Line of Fire.”

“In the Line of Fire” was a hit with audiences as it was No. 7 at the U.S. box office in 1993 with $102.3 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. Worldwide “I” made $187.3 million, according to Wiki. It was a tough year to get near the top with the Nos. 1-2 being “Jurassic Park” ($357 million) and “Mrs. Doubtfire” ($219.1 million). Here are the other films from 1993 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Steve Railsback, whose Golden Globe nomination for “The Stunt Man” in 1980 with Peter O’Toole briefly elevated his Hollywood status, has an uncredited role here as an agent.
  • Eastwood did his own piano playing in this one.
  • Malkovich reportedly isolated himself alone at home for a month to prepare for the role of the assassin. He was trying to understand the character’s isolation from the world and himself.
  • I know that Malkovich did a near-perfect job here, but he wasn’t the first choice. Robert De Niro was first choice, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. Also considered were Robert Duvall and Jack Nicholson. Frankly, that Oscar-winning trio could never have done the same justice to the role as Malkovich.
  • Glenn Close and Sharon Stone both reportedly turned down the role played by Russo. Good on the part of Close – she’s overrated and would have been terrible – but it would have been an interesting part of Stone, who, I believe, could have done a little better than Rene.
  • “In the Line of Fire” reportedly is the first film to have the cooperation of the Secret Service during its production.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “The phone number that Agent Chavez gives Horrigan for the San Diego field office is 619-UKELELE. This translates to 619-853-5353. At the time the film was made, the prefix “853” led to the Time Announcement Service (the current time) in Southern California.”
  • A political feud helped filmmakers avoid making possibly one of the worst all-time casting choices. Dustin Hoffman (all 5-foot-5 of him) was originally slated to play Eastwood’s character. Can you imagine a twerpy Hoffman (hey, I love his work and he’s totally top-shelf … but he’s no Clint for this kind of film)? Thankfully, studio politics sunk that potentially woeful event or we’d still be laughing at this one today.

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