Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cop takes hostages to exonerate himself; language, violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Negotiator
What's the Story?
The hero is Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), a Black veteran police negotiator who claims he was set up to take the fall for a murder. THE NEGOTIATOR is introduced as he uses his tricky methods to end a hostage situation without violence. He does his job spectacularly well, using daredevil tactics to deescalate the situation and save lives. But when he is accused of murdering his partner to cover up theft from a police fund, he decides that taking an Internal Affairs investigator hostage in a high-rise will be the best way to uncover the real perpetrators. With half of Chicago's cops in the street below ready to break in and take him out, he demands his friends and colleagues bring in Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), another negotiator well known for resolving such situations without violence. Danny plays for time as he sweats information out of Internal Affairs cop Niebaum (J.T. Walsh) and wins the trust of the other hostages.
Is It Any Good?
The notion that causing a SWAT-team event is the best way to investigate corruption among your fellow cops feels far-fetched. But setting The Negotiator's absurd premise aside, Jackson, Spacey, Walsh, John Spencer, Ron Rifkin, David Morse, and others do their best with the shaky script, ever-escalating violence, and special effects required to support a movie that is more about firearms than it is about relationships.
Jackson, a great actor by any measure, is bigger-than-life here, that is, he yells a lot to show us he really means it. Supposedly it's all part of the act to persuade the cops and FBI agents that he, a good cop, is unhinged enough to kill his hostages. It's still a lot to swallow but may be fun for fans of such nonstop action standards as the Deadpool, Die Hard and Bourne franchises. The hokey, drawn-out ending does nothing to make this better.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the movie switches our suspicions from one character to the next to keep the suspense going. Did it keep you guessing?
How effectively does the movie use violence to illustrate character? Do you think less could have been more? Why or why not?
Did you learn anything about how hostage negotiators work? Where could you go to learn more?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 29, 1998
- Cast : Samuel L. Jackson , Kevin Spacey , Ron Rifkin
- Director : F. Gary Gray
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Director(s) , African American Movie Director(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Gay Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 140 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence and language
- Award : NAACP Image Award - NAACP Image Award Nominee
- Last updated : September 14, 2024
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