‘I have a rendezvous with death, and so does the President…’
The concept of a ‘thriller’ is a weird one. Surely all good cinema should be thrilling regardless of the genre. So, what exactly do we mean when we describe a film as a thriller? For anyone in doubt, I refer you to In the Line of Fire. A cat-and-mouse game with high stakes and low pretension. The kind of film that Clint Eastwood has made a career of, both as an actor and as a director…
Mitch Leary (John Malkovich) is a former CIA hitman with an axe to grind. Believing himself to be untouchable, Leary goes after the big dog himself, the President of the United States of America (Jim Curley). Standing in his way is veteran secret service agent Frank Horrigan (Eastwood). Frank is juggling keeping the president safe with looking out for his green partner Al (Dylan McDermott) and trying to seduce fellow agent Lilly Raines (Rene Russo) – despite Frank being old enough to be her father. Welcome to the ’90s.
This is a truly great thriller. I was gripped from start to finish. Jeff Maguire’s screenplay is immaculate in its economy. Not a line of dialogue is superfluous or wasted. Wolfgang Petersen directs with a deft touch, allowing the plot to drive the camera and not the other way around. The German director also brought us Das Boot and The Neverending Story so he knows a thing or two about tension. And huge flying dogs. Eastwood is superb throughout and to see him sparring with another heavyweight in Malkovich makes for a cinematic rivalry for the ages.
In the Line of Fire sings from the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon songbook but does so in a way that is unique and innovative. One of the most underrated films of the decade.