In the Line of Fire

In the Line of Fire is the definition of a perfect blockbuster! It’s one of those movies with an entire dream team working together that doesn’t misfire a single shot! Wolfgang Petersen directs this film that stars Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich based on a magnificent script penned by Jeff Maguire, and oh boy are we gonna discuss how magnificent the script is!

Clint Eastwood plays Frank Horrigan, a veteran Secret Service Agent at the cusp end of his long career. His age, his capability, his tendency to fall ill, his mental judgment and his very reason for still having the job he has is constantly questioned, and for a good reason. You see, Frank was the personal protector of JFK and his failure to save the United States President from demise at the time has completely ruined his reputation, profession, career, marriage, family and essentially, his life altogether. But despite all of that, with various strings pulled, he is still in the job doing the one thing he is most passionate about - the job! He is extremely dedicated to what he is being paid for and on the surface it may seem like that’s the role a typical hero role he embodies, but the writing digs further a level to give a scarred, wounded protagonist who is desperate for that one chance to redeem himself from what happened in the past. In other words, there is no better protagonist out there that has the sufficient weight of motivation to carry out this plot and meet this goal of redemption!

Comes along an opportunity like the things you shouldn’t wish for, in the form of antagonist Mitch Leary; one of the most stupendous antagonists ever put on silver screen, played by the ever-talented John Malkovich in one of his career best performance! His plan is simple - he wants to kill the current President. Again, like the protagonist, he may seem like a terrorist doing what every terrorist does, but the writing once again, dives much deeper than surface! As the plot progresses, you learn he is a wounded CIA agent who once served the force but understandably has been wronged and now wishes to redeem himself from the things he was told to do during his tenure. Do you see the exact similarity Mitch has with Frank? Exactly! And that is the biggest boon of the writing!

It’s very rare to meet a protagonist who pairs cent-per-cent with the antagonist. In the case of this motion picture, Frank and Mitch are made for each other! While both of them share the exact same past and problem, what they don’t share is the way they go about making peace with it, which ultimately differentiates their respective type of roles. Their relationship is one of the most unique aspects of the show. You could tell the villain doesn’t hate the hero. To an extent, he loves him. Whenever Mitch narrates what transpired to Frank (fantastic way of hiding exposition by the way) through their various phone calls, it may seem as if he is taunting Frank. But on the other side, he may very well not be doing that. He was just projecting his past and the way he feels about it, onto Frank. He clearly sees the similarities they both share and hopes to have a ‘friend’ who went through the same set of circumstances to understand him. And that is precisely why he didn’t kill Frank at the easiest opportunity when he had the chance to post the amazing rooftop chase sequence! You could ask yourself is that same reason why Frank didn’t pull the trigger as well when he clearly could have? One wonders.

Speaking of relationships, that’s another gemstone polished to sheen in this script. Aside from Mitch and the assistant officer Al, Frank shares a short yet solid relationship with his love interest Lilly (Rene Russo). Him constantly annoying her is hilarious to watch. And they’ve created good tension during the lift scene where they both were smooching as the elevator rises to a level where the other fellow officers were about to hop on. The lovemaking scene that follows is funny as we see the many, many items these Secret Service agents carry underneath their garments as they undress, ready for action. Frank even makes a hilarious sigh comment about it a short while later!

On top of all this, the screenplay is filled with plethora of interesting scenes! Be it the cardiac arrest joke on Frank, false alarm that triggers humiliation for the President, Frank’s monologue in the presidential suite and the comparison between the JFK murder and the rooftop chase where Mitch questions Frank’s gall to take a bullet are examples of excellent scenes! Even the beginning intro to Frank’s profession in an undercover operation was great - even if we already subconsciously know Clint Eastwood is gonna be the good guy after all, the tension works flawlessly! Every time John Malkovich appears onscreen as Mitch Leary, the scene is automatically arresting. Be it the stalking and killing of the innocent bank teller from Minneapolis by him brutally snapping her neck at her home, the casual mentioning of this Minneapolis murder to Frank which doesn’t mean anything to the latter at the time, the switching from passengers seat at the back to the driver’s seat signifying Mitch has done the same to the cab driver what he did to the bank teller, the demonstration and murder of the curious hunters, the assembling of the plastic gun under the table and the entire climactic tense where Frank actually takes the bullet for the President are simply marvelous!

The resolution is sweet and simple, where by the end, you do miss the character Mitch Leary as he leaves the voicemail note for Frank. On Frank’s behalf, to see all that doubts from the very beginning turning into votes of confidence at the end, the payoff is immense! Another theme discussion brought up by the script is the debate between protecting dignity versus protecting life. Also, the camera clarity is simple, vivid and most effective!