the police negotiator is the person with the entirely unenviable job of going into ground zero and attempting to talk a dangerous criminal out of doing whatever he or she intends to do .
lives are often at stake , and the criminal is usually armed and most likely mentally unstable , prone to turn on the negotiator at a moment 's notice .
the negotiator must therefore be something of an actor , psychologist , and sham artist , in addition to being a police officer ; he must be able to think on his feet and either work toward the goal of ending the confrontation without violence , or failing that , must be prepared to facilitate the conclusion of the crisis through firepower .
most of all , the negotiator must be able to enter a situation with as little intelligence about the scenario as possible , and quickly gain control of the situation , dominate the conversation , and influence the perpetrator into thinking that the end of the conflict is what he really wants .
it takes a pretty smart person to do that .
but what if the hostage - holding criminal is just as smart ?
what if he 's also able to think on his feet ?
in fact , what if he also knows all the tricks to turning the situation to his favor ?
it is this circumstance which forms the basis for f .
gary gray 's the negotiator .
in this film , police negotiator danny roman ( samuel l . jackson ) is tipped off by his partner to corruption within the chicago police force .
when his partner turns up shot to death and internal affairs finds incriminating evidence in roman 's home , roman becomes the prime suspect of both embezzling from the police disability fund and murder .
faced with the scorn of most of the police department , and under close scrutiny by the media , roman is forced to turn in his badge in one of those typical scenes in the captain 's office .
i do n't quite remember if the captain actually said , " i hate to do this ,
but . . . " , although it would n't surprise me if he did .
luckily , the film soon shakes off the conventionalism and concentrates on the interesting premise mentioned above .
after being offered a take - it - or - leave - it deal by the district attorney , roman resolves to prove his innocence by walking into the office of internal affairs inspector niebaum ( j .
t .
walsh ) , taking him and others hostage , and proclaiming he has been framed .
although roman 's actions seem forced due to the compressed nature of his motivational build - up , gray redeems himself by involving us with the negotiations between roman and fellow police negotiator chris sabian ( kevin spacey ) which soon ensue .
jackson , while a superb actor , is miscast in the role of roman .
the actor has become so popular , and so often identified as a protagonist ( notable exceptions can be found , such as in jackie brown ) , that we as an audience have a difficult time believing he will carry out his threats .
the script also clearly sets him up as the good guy who is only trying to prove his innocence .
how can we believe he 's going to shoot a hostage ,
no matter if the hostage tried to kill him earlier ?
unfortunately , this preconception saps the film of some of it 's would - be suspenseful moments , and anything good left in those scenes is largely attributed to jackson 's acting ability
.
almost every time he 's in a scene , jackson steals it without looking back .
when spacey appears , the film has already run about a third of its course .
his is an interesting character .
made out to be some kind of negotiating superman
, our first look at him has him hopelessly trying to get his family moving to set out on vacation .
"
i can talk a man out of blowing up the sears tower , but i ca n't talk my wife out of the bedroom or my daughter off the phone , " he says .
when he gets the call to action , however , he quickly changes gears and becomes the man we expect him to be .
soon , his character has to negotiate not only with roman , but also with the swat commander ( david morse ) who is itching to send in a team to take roman out , all the while keeping wary of the fbi agents who are waiting to take over the operation , should negotiations fail .
this complex set of pressures are reflected well in sabian the negotiator and spacey the actor .
as the second protagonist , spacey measures up nicely .
gray
really lucked out with this cast .
david morse as commander
beck , ron rifkin as commander frost , and john spencer as police chief al travis are all more than competent , and can hold their own in scenes with jackson and spacey .
the only problem is the bit of typecasting that results from these choices : morse played a similar role in the rock , rifkin played the d .
a . in l . a . confidential , and spencer played a police detective in cop land .
with the level of acting , however , this can be forgiven .
also in the supporting cast , paul giamatti as rudy , one of the hostages , is notable for the comic relief he provides .
his character is initially so slimy , and giamatti himself just looks so shifty , that you expect to laugh before he even says anything .
fortunately , this does n't distract from the seriousness of the rest of the film , but instead provides some nice breathers from the level of tension which gray manages to sustain throughout .
j .
t .
walsh , as the suspicious internal affairs inspector , clocks in with one of his final performances .
sadly , the talented but underrated actor passed away in late february of this year , and the soon to be released pleasantville will mark his last film .
walsh appeared in dozens of movies such as good morning vietnam , backdraft , and nixon .
for one of his best performances , check out sling blade , in which he plays a mental patient sharing a ward with billy bob thornton .
when jack nicholson accepted his best actor oscar in march , walsh was one of the men to whom he credited his success ( the actors performed together in a few good men ) .
the negotiator is actually dedicated to walsh , and while inspector niebaum may not have been his best role , it certainly characterizes the type of character for which walsh had become most famous for playing .
in the end , the negotiator has a plotline that parallels it 's reality .
we 're served with the premise that two equally deft negotiators are battling each other to resolve the conflict in the manner which will suit each of them best .
as an audience , we 're also given a situation where two wonderfully talented actors are thrown into a movie , and we 'd like to see if one will dominate the film .
both provide some pretty good entertainment .
both provide some pretty good entertainment wonderfully talented actors are thrown into a movie really lucked out with this cast spacey measures up nicely largely attributed to jackson 's acting ability the film soon shakes off the conventionalism and concentrates on the interesting premise can hold their own more than competent provides some nice breathers