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In the Line of Fire
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In the Line of Fire is a 1993 Academy Award-nominated thriller film about a psychopath who attempts to assassinate the President of the United States and the Secret Service agent who tracks him. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and stars Clint Eastwood as Agent Frank Horrigan and John Malkovich as assassin Mitch Leary.
Eastwood's character is the sole active-duty Secret Service agent remaining from the detail guarding John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, at the time of his assassination in 1963.
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Encyclopedia
In the Line of Fire is a 1993 Academy Award-nominated thriller film about a psychopath who attempts to assassinate the President of the United States and the Secret Service agent who tracks him. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and stars Clint Eastwood as Agent Frank Horrigan and John Malkovich as assassin Mitch Leary.
Eastwood's character is the sole active-duty Secret Service agent remaining from the detail guarding John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, at the time of his assassination in 1963. Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, John Mahoney, and Fred Thompson also star. The film was co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment, with Columbia handling distribution. It is also notable for being the last film in which Eastwood starred that he did not also direct. Petersen also originally offered the role of Leary to Robert De Niro, who turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with Cape Fear and This Boy's Life.
The film earned three nominations at the 66th Academy Awards: John Malkovich for Best Supporting Actor, Jeff Maguire for Best Original Screenplay, and Anne V. Coates for Best Editing.
A sub-plot of the film is the President's reelection campaign. For the scenes of campaign rallies the filmmakers used digitally-altered scenes from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign events.
Plot synopsis
The story begins in Washington D.C., where Frank Horrigan, an aging Secret Service Agent, joins his new partner, Al D’Andrea, on assignment. They travel to a boating marina to meet with members of a counterfeiting ring. While Frank inspects a phony bill, the group’s leader, Mendoza (Tobin Bell), tells Frank that he has identified Al as a Secret Service agent. (The Secret Service’s original mission, when founded in the late 19th century, was to track down counterfeiters and they continue in this capacity to this day.) Frank joins Mendoza on his boat where they have bound Al to a chair. Frank is forced to show his loyalty by putting a gun to Al’s head and pulling the trigger. The gun is empty (a fact that Frank was able to determine while hefting the weapon) and one of Mendoza’s thugs slips a plastic bag over Al’s head. Frank shoots the plastic bag guy and another of Mendoza's thugs, frees Al, and shows his badge, telling Mendoza he’s under arrest.
Frank investigates a complaint from an elderly landlady (Elsa Raven) about one of her tenants. Frank finds a shrine of sorts to famous assassinations. Later, when Frank and Al acquire a search warrant and enter the man’s apartment they discover that the pictures in the shrine have vanished and only one remains: a much younger Frank standing behind John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.
Frank receives a phone call the next evening from a man who insists Frank call him “Booth” after Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. The caller admires Booth because he had “flair, panache.” He tells Frank that he plans to kill the current president. The man also seems to know a great deal of Frank’s history as a Secret Service agent. Frank reports the call to his superiors and an investigation is opened.
In a side story, Frank starts an initially-prickly relationship with another agent, Lilly Raines. She helps him get on protection detail for the President, a duty Frank hasn’t had for years and for which, because of his age, he is out of shape.
Frank’s sleuthing reveals that Booth is actually a man named Mitch Leary, a former CIA operative (a “wetboy”) who has suffered a mental breakdown and is now a psychotic killer. Leary turns out to be incredibly resourceful; he opens a fake bank account in Los Angeles and is a master of disguise. He is also proficient at gunsmithing and builds a composite (i.e. non-metallic, in this case) zip gun with the bullets hidden in a key chain, so as not to set off any alarms at security gates.
Leary taunts Frank with several more phone calls throughout the film. At one point the tracing of his call leads Frank and his fellow agents to a payphone at nearby Lafayette Park, one block from the White House. As Leary flees the scene, he is nearly run over by a passing motorist. Leary also shows up at several public events the current president attends, knowing that Frank will be there on protection detail. At one event, Leary pops several balloons and Frank, suffering from a bad cold, causes an embarrassing scene, thinking they are gunshots.
One night Al informs Frank he's going to retire in the morning because of nightmares of how Mendoza's men were going to kill him. But he decides not to because Frank insists he needs Al’s help.
Another call from Leary the next day leads Frank and Al to a Washington apartment building where the two spot Leary sneaking away. A chase ensues across the roofs of several buildings. It ends when Leary shoots Al and kills him, though in an ironic twist, Leary saves Frank from falling from the building's ledge. Frank is devastated about Al’s death and becomes even more determined to capture Leary.
Frank concludes that Leary will attempt the assassination in Los Angeles, at a huge fundraising event to be held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Frank unnecessarily roughs up a bellhop who has lost his identification card. The incident is filmed by a local news channel and Frank is thrown off protection duty and ordered to return home.
While he travels to the airport, another clue, a coded phone number, is discovered by Frank. He finds out that Leary had opened a bank account under a false name and had sent a large donation check to the local office of the President’s party, thereby securing an invitation to the fundraiser.
Frank returns to the hotel with the phony name and demands to see the guest seating list at the banquet taking place. He recognizes Leary in disguise at a table near the stage and rushes to stop him. Leary draws his gun and fires just as Frank jumps into the path of the bullet as he is wearing his bulletproof vest. The President is rushed immediately from the scene into his motorcade, which races away.
Leary grabs Frank as a hostage and forces him out of the banquet hall and into the hotel's external elevator. They travel upwards several stories and Leary breaks all the interior lights so nearby snipers can’t target him. Leary threatens to kill Frank and himself and also tells Frank that he saved the aging agent’s career. Frank still has his earpiece and microphone and is able to talk to Lilly and reveal Leary’s position in the elevator for the snipers. They shoot into the elevator, missing both men, but give Frank the opportunity to overpower Leary. The scuffle ends with Leary clinging to the outside of the elevator. Frank offers Leary his help but Leary lets go and plummets to his death.
Frank decides to retire and he and Lilly return to Washington. At his apartment, he finds a final voicemail message from Leary, bidding him farewell in case he had succeeded in the assassination attempt and taken his own life afterwards. The two of them leave before the message is finished. The film ends with Lily and Frank sitting by the Lincoln Memorial looking at pigeons while Frank makes the wry comment "I know things about pigeons, Lilly."
Cast
- Clint Eastwood as Frank Horrigan, a Secret Service agent still haunted by his failure to save John F. Kennedy and now seeks redemption.
- John Malkovich as Mitch Leary, a psychotic but highly intelligent assassin determined to kill the President of the United States. Robert De Niro was originally considered before Malkovich was cast.
- Rene Russo as Lilly Raines, a Secret Service agent and Frank's love interest.
- Dylan McDermott as Al D'Andrea, Frank's partner until his death at Leary's hands.
- Gary Cole as Bill Watts, Frank's superior, weary of Frank's reputation.
- Fred Dalton Thompson as Harry Sargent, the White House Chief of Staff, also distrusting of Frank.
- John Mahoney as Sam Campagna, Frank's colleague and friend in the Secret Service.
- Gregory Alan Williams as Matt Wilder
- Jim Curley as the President of the United States, Leary's target.
- Sally Hughes as the First Lady of the United States
- Tobin Bell as Mendoza, a counterfeiter, apprehended by Frank in the film's opening scene.
Critical and audience response
In The Line of Fire received overwhelmingly positive reviews, carrying a "Certified Fresh" rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film was a considerable financial success as well, earning $176,997,168 worldwide ($102,314,823 in North America, and $74,682,345 in other territories), while its budget was about $40 million.
See also
External links
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