'The Negotiator' (R)
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One cheer for director F. Gary Gray, who directs their tense showdown with enough restraint to keep it from becoming a bloodbath, wisely focusing on the psychological rather than the physical drama. Boo, hiss for writers James DeMonaco and Kevin Fox, whose story-about a framed police negotiator who becomes hostage taker in order to clear his name-ranges from dumb to average.
Jackson plays Roman, a heroic Chicago cop who in a stellar career has talked down more deranged criminals than he has ever shot. When he is accused by the Internal Affairs Division of stealing from the police pension fund and murdering his partner, he bursts into I.A. headquarters and takes prisoner his chief accuser, Inspector Niebaum (J.‚T. Walsh), along with his old buddy Commander Frost (Ron Rifkin) and two innocent bystanders (Paul Giamatti and Siobhan Fallon).
Never mind that Roman has stayed calmer in far worse situations, such as when he was standing at the receiving end of a shaky shotgun with the itchy finger of an unbalanced former Marine at the trigger. And never mind that the material proof of his guilt is nonexistent (a gun with no prints) or circumstantial at best (bank statements for offshore accounts in his closet).
"They have a case that a jury will convict on," shrugs Roman's own lawyer, in a stunning example of bad legal advice.
"You're about to be indicted," warns Niebaum, only hours after the charges have been made. (Excuse me, but isn't that for a grand jury to decide?)
Try not to think about those implausibilities, though. That's my job, and such quibbles only really mar the first 30 minutes of the film. After that, when Roman demands Sabian as the only negotiator he will talk to, the movie becomes a taut confrontation between two people who lie for a living. Not only do these two pros not know whether they can trust each other, but the police commandos poised to "breach" the building-and the hostages themselves-are suspect. (And let me just note in passing that David Morse, as SWAT team commander Beck, has morphed into one scary, hulking ape from his wimpy days as Dr. Morrison on "St. Elsewhere.")
The strategizing and counter-strategizing of Roman and Sabian may never achieve the level of a chess game, but at least it's a rousing game of checkers. It's sometimes a little too obvious when one of them is bluffing, but that's more the fault of DeMonaco and Fox's script than of Jackson and Spacey, who bring much needed street cred and palpable tension to what is essentially a flimsy, gimmicky plot.
As Roman frantically searches through Niebaum's computer files for evidence that will exonerate him, he comes across a screen-complete with pictures-that is conveniently labeled "INFORMANT" in bright, red letters. Exactly how stupid do they think we are?
Fortunately, Jackson and Spacey have enough sassy wit and crackling intensity between them to keep "The Negotiator" from becoming hostage to its own inanity.
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