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The Negotiator

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Germany, United States · 1998
Rated R · 2h 20m
Director F. Gary Gray
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin
Genre Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

When the police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, he insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in an elaborate conspiracy. Out of options, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.

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80

The A.V. Club by

One of the best by-the-numbers thrillers you'll see this year, thanks to a hot-shot cast.

25

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

The concept of dueling negotiators has strong dramatic potential, but Gray seems more interested in gimmicks and gunshots than in the psychological face-off between sharp-witted foes.

60

Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is fairly efficient if you can square efficiency with being twice as long as necessary and overly familiar to boot; at least Jackson and Spacey keep it afloat.

70

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

It's a measure of how pulsating and energetic a visual style director F. Gary Gray has, and how vividly actors Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey come across on screen, that this film is intensely watchable from minute to minute, even though a lot of what's happening doesn't stand up to a moment's scrutiny.

67

Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov

The Negotiator falls short of greatness by a country mile; it's too chatty for its own good sometimes. But it's still a solid shoot-'em-up.

83

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

The Negotiator, once it gets going (there's a rather lengthy prosaic setup), is a satisfyingly tense and booby-trapped thriller about the meeting of two relentless minds.

50

Dallas Observer by Peter Rainer

Instead of the cat-and-mouse cogitations and psych-outs one might rightly expect from this high concept, we're fobbed off with a lot of sub-Die Hard theatrics and stinko plotting.

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