Well, let's see it's been a couple of months since the last test screening having to do with Samuel "THE MAN" Jackson and well... along comes a screening of THE NEGOTIATOR, a film which stars the other "THE MAN" Kevin Spacey. Hell, you know any movie Stallone turns down must be a jewel. And so it seems. Received about 6 reviews that were all short and to the point. They liked the movie. Then there were these two, which were a bit longer, and also liked the movie. Of course is it possible to have the two coolest actors in the biz in a movie that doesn't rock? I don't think so. The sheer magnitude of cool line readings alone will have to make this one a must see.
The first review comes from those wacky WonderTwins from TV's SUPERFRIENDS. I don't think they took their mutt along but that whole shapeshifting during the movie would drive me insane. Here ya go....
On our way back from terrorizing the peaceful folks of Comity, we stumbled upon a test screening of the new Samuel L. Jackson/Kevin Spacey drama tentetively titled 'The Negotiator'. Not actually knowing anything about this as we sat down in the uncomfortable movie seats, by the time the movie finally started we were treated to an excellent action/drama with a dash of comedy. It was well acted by both main participants, with a fabulous supporting cast consisting of the late J.T. Walsh (We believe it was his last film role) and many other famous actors whose name escape us at the moment due to the comet passing overhead and screwing with our psychic frequencies. Not to mention the lack of a cast list or any other credits. It was, after all, a work in proccess.
What can we tell you?
It was a Warner Bros. film. The production company was Gary Gray films. And that would be about it, as far as who made it.
We don't wanna give away too much stuff about the movie. . . sufficed to say it shined. Kevin Spacey and Sam Jackson play HTB (Hostage negotiators) agents. Sam's character (Danny) is framed for the murder of his partner, who had told him about corruption in the dept. the night before his death. Danny takes a group of people (one of which he believes is responsible/tied to the corruption) hostage, and mahem ensues. Kevin Spacey plays Chris who is requested by Danny as the hostage negotiator *he* negotiates with. There are some great comedic moments before Chris appears on the scene, with Danny trying to 'teach' a rookie the ropes of negotiation via veiled (and not so veiled) threats. While most movies of this genre manage to dehumanize the characters, this one made them more human, and even gave it a heart, to some degree.
This movie is full of drama, action and enough levity to keep it from getting too dark and depressing. This is a film we saw for free we will definately pay to go back and see again! we think the audience agrees with us, as we have never heard more applause *during* a movie.
Definitely a must see, if you like this type of movie, or the actors in it. Pretty damn cool, in our opinion.
Well the elegant John McLAME wrote the following, if you can decipher it (what is it with spies named after Bruce Willis characters?)
Hey Porkins! (I mean that as a compliment), I just got back from seeing a new Samuel L. Jackson flick which is currently untitled. I'd like to call it DIE HARD 8: Jules Under Siege but that might make it sound bad, which the movie definatly was not! In fact, this was the first movie since DieHard2, that had that DieHard feel.
Just what is that DieHard feel you ask? It's when an action/adventure/drama movie grips you by the balls & doesn't let go until the end credits, and you can finally breath properly again. When all the characters are richly entertaining, but still seem convincingly real. Examples of the failed attempts at the DieHard feel are Passenger57, Speed, and the worst of all AirForceOne. How could they fuck that one up?! Anyway, about the movie I was lucky enough to see.
The movie was "unfinished". Here's the plot as described on the flyer. I don't read these descriptions till after I see the screenings because I love not knowing a damn thing about a movie and just being able to experience it with no pre-anything about it. Yet I read your site everyday! Go figure. I consider what they wrote on the flyer a SPOILER because it's like all the stupid movie trailers these days.... a 2 hour movie encapsulated into 2 minutes with the ending missing.
"Ooooo....what's going to happen? I'm so curious....'Get off my plane!'...DIE DIE DIE Mr. Innocent President... "I'm just an innocent President taken hostage by terrorists. I'm scared...I'm the 'everyday man', the audiance can relate to me...." SORRY Bruce Willis was better as the everyday man cause he had balls. Not some Pansie-Punk..
Woah, got off track a bit. Where was I? The description SPOILER Crap:
CARD "A" (paper color undisclosed for me and my family's safety) Maverick negotiator, Danny Roman (Sam Jackson) is framed for embezzlement and the murder of his partner and best friend. Newly married, and faced with a prison sentence for crimes he didn't commit, Roman turns hostage-taker in an attempt to smoke-out the guilty ones in his own squad. Brought in to square off against Danny, is the highly respected and methodical negotiator, Chris Sabian(Kevin Spacey). Blah blah , you get the idea.
The story was pretty cool. It was like Diehard, except the terrorists were replaced by cops & even though this print was unfinished, the movie still worked. Nice pacing & acting all around.
The whole thing looked like DieHard. Taking place in a building at night, etc. Sam Jackson has been better, but he's always good. He must be a bit tired after being in every movie of the last 3 years, but he had to give Tommy Lee Jones a rest.
Spacey was excellent as usual, but the best was the guy who played PigVomit.in Private Parts. He is historical. And funny too. I'm tired. Basically the movie gets on my scale of 1-10 an 8. That is really good. For comparrison, I gave a 10 to DieHard, & a 3 to DieHard3:Shakey-Cam with a Vengeance.
