In the Line of Fire (1993)

“You know, for years now I’ve listened to all these idiots on barstools, with their pet theories on Dallas. How it was the Cubans, or the CIA, or the white supremacists, or the Mob. Whether there was one weapon, or whether there was five. None of that’s meant too much to me. But Leary… he questioned whether I had the guts to take that fatal bullet. God, that was a beautiful day. The sun was out, been raining all morning, the air was… First shot sounded like a firecracker. I looked over, I saw him, I could tell he was hit. I don’t know why I didn’t react. I should have reacted. I should have been running flat-out. I just couldn’t believe it. If only I’d reacted, I could have taken that shot. And that would have been alright with me.” – Frank

Number of Times Seen – Between 5-10 times (Theater in ’93, video, DVD, 13 Jul 2000 and 23 Jul 2015)

Brief Synopsis – A veteran secret service agent who feels like he failed while protecting Kennedy must try and stop an assassin from getting close to the current President.

My Take on it – I remember getting excited to see this when I saw the teaser trailer a few months before it came out that showed 1963 turning into 1993. (ironic since I recently read that the studio pulled that ad very quickly because they didn’t think it would attract viewers and here I am 22 years later still reminiscing about that ad) 😉

Check it out here:

The cat and mouse chases and psychological games between the two leads works so well.

John Malkovich is perfect as the assassin hell-bent on killing the President.

Clint Eastwood is very effective as his straight laced law officer adversary bound by duty and country.

There are scenes and scenarios in this movie that feel quite far fetched but it still is extremely enjoyable.

Bottom Line – Love the cat and mouse mind games in this movie. Malkovich is perfect as the deranged assassin and Eastwood once again does a great job as the straight laced cop who is bound by his duty. Parts of this feel very far fetched, but it’s still a very enjoyable thriller.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The movie makes connections to three of the four historical assassinations of American presidents. 1) Frank Horrigan was on the Secret Service detail of John F. Kennedy. 2) Mitch Leary call himself Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. 3) Mitch Leary tries to shoot the president with a gun concealed in a handkerchief, which was how Leon Czolgosz assassinated William McKinley. The fourth, James A. Garfield, was assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau, July 2, 1881. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy

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