In the Line of Fire (1993)
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo
Synopsis:
An aging Secret Service agent who was in Dallas during the Kennedy assassination is targeted by an assassin aiming to kill the current president during a hectic reelection campaign.
Impressions:
This was my first movie to see John Malkovich and what an impression he makes. I was much more sensitive as a kid and I found his performance seriously disturbing. I mean, it's still disturbing, but it doesn't affect me quite as viscerally in my desensitized old age. Clint Eastwood does a good job as a man of action fighting age as much as the villain. Dylan McDermott and Rene Russo make good foils for Eastwood's character and Fred Thompson shines as the abrasive White House Chief of Staff. The plot is tense with some outstanding cat-and-mouse. Both the Secret Service and the assassin are highly competent but the former is hobbled by political concerns of a president more interested in his poll numbers than the threat to his life. This is a fine example of a thriller and definitely worth watching.
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