Clevercell
Very disappointing...
Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Motompa
Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Thomas Drufke
In the decade of exploding action films with plenty of clichéd characters and plot points, The Negotiator manages to avoid most of the predictable moments and keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. This was also the beginning of the endless Samuel L Jackson action flicks with an overwhelming amount of quotable lines. But as much as I liked Jackson, I loved the supporting cast. When you have people like David Morse, Paul Giamatti, and Kevin Spacey rounding out the cast, the film is in good hands.The film tells the story of a police negotiator who gets his world flipped on him when he is accused of murdering his best friend and corruption and is forced to take matters into his own hands. I like the idea of having what you try and stop everyday as a living, end up being the very thing you're doing to prove your innocence. It's an added bonus that the film takes place and is filmed mostly in Chicago, my hometown. There are the inevitable slow-motion shots and occasionally questionable one-liners, I think the film tends to stay away from the grain. The story definitely seemed fresh, and the back and forth between Spacey and Jackson was the best part of the movie.I will say I was pretty worried about how the film was going to end knowing the whole movie took place in one location. But I feel the movie tended to get a little bit obsessed with itself towards the climax. A few of the characters motives were questionable at best and it felt melodramatic at times. With that said, this is definitely one of those movies that if it comes on T.V., I probably wont want to turn it off as it has endlessly re-watchable scenes with classic Spacey and Jackson performances, not to mention just how funny Giamatti is here as he is the one and only source for comedic relief.+Spacey & Jackson dynamic +Chi-town +Giamatti is hilarious +Tends to stay away from the clichés -Melodramatic towards the end -Some character motives 7.6/10
LeonLouisRicci
The Fun in Watching this Attempt at High-Concept Action is all the Fine Actors that are on Screen and Make this More than it is. A Cliché Ridden and Ridiculous Story about Corrupt Cops Siphoning the Police Fund and Framing the Supreme Hostage Negotiator that must take Hostages to Prove He is Innocent.There are some Unforgivable Goings-On here. Like when the Movie's Momentum is brought to a Suspension of Disbelief Halt when the First Negotiator to Confront this Savant is Brought On Line, He turns out to be so Contrastingly Incompetent that Contrivance is too Good a Word to Describe what Transpires Between Them. There is also a Similar Stoppage for Many Quotes from the Negotiator Manual. It Reeks of Bad Movie Stuff.But Overall it is Worth a View with Low Expectations and a Really Really Heavy Suspension of Disbelief and a Couple of Anti-Cringe Capsules.
david-sarkies
The Negotiator is a very tense movie that keeps you captivated right through to the end. The cinematography is brilliant and the plot has been developed to completely throw the viewer. As this movie does has a number of twists, I will not reveal them so as not to spoil the movie.This movie is about a number of themes. It is about control and power, the bluff, and the truth. A top police negotiator is framed for stealing money for the police disability funds and for murdering his partner. He is innocent and goes to internal affairs to try and find out what is wrong. While he is there, guns are pulled and it falls into a hostage situation. The catch is that he is a police negotiator and as such knows everything that the police do to rescue hostages. Because of this he is able to take control of the situation, and maintain control. He is able to shut the police out of the room and create a very dangerous situation. Because he has been told that his friends are involved, he demands that another negotiator (Kevin Spacey) come to handle the situation.The Negotiator deals with intense psychological warfare where the negotiator is using all of his tactics that he uses on hostage takers to bring the police around to his side. The central part of this warfare involves the bluff. They must lead people to think one thing while they are trying to do another. In situations such as these, calling the bluff can be dangerous, but if one is in complete control of the situation then one can be safe in knowing that the bluff will not be called.Bluffs are thrown around constantly in this movie, but here the hostage taker is in complete control and is able to easily call their bluffs, while he can bluff without worrying about them being called.The Negotiator is a very good movie. It is quite fast, I think, though it drags a bit at the beginning. Generally the drag is needed to set up the plot, but once it gets going, the action becomes very tense.
kombizz
I watched this movie tonight. I love it so much that I was not able to move out from my seat. This film is an excellent intelligent movie with fantastic actors of Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. For sure Samuel L. Jackson played his best of ability to deliver this well written by James DeMonaco, and Kevin Fox. Jackson was a police hostage negotiator, and he set up for a crime that he didn't commit. He worked with amazing strategy to get into truth by taking his own hostages and find out about the truth by bluffing, and negotiating, and smart actions. I RECOMMEND this movie to those people who would like to get nailed down to their chairs for over one hour, and enjoy an intelligent movie. I give score 9 out of 10.
