Aging secret service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood), on duty the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, is still unable to forget his failure on that fateful day, even as he nears retirement in 1993. When Mitch Leary (John Malkovich), a psychotic man calling himself Booth, threatens to kill the current president, Horrigan is the only one who takes the threat seriously. Over time, a cat-and-mouse game develops between the potential assassin and the agent; Horrigan sees the game as a chance to redeem his earlier failure and escape a life that has fallen into alcoholism and self-pity. With his only allies his partner (Dylan McDermott), who realizes he can't handle being a secret service agent and wants to resign, and a female agent (Rene Russo) whom he alternately annoys and attracts, Horrigan takes on Leary one-on-one in a fight to save the president, his job, and his self-respect. Directed with panache and precision by Wolfgang Petersen, IN THE LINE OF FIRE is an expertly crafted thriller that features spectacular performances by Eastwood and Malkovich.
cast
Clint Eastwood as Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan
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Frank Horrigan: I know who you are - Leary.
Mitch Leary: I'm glad, Frank. Friends should be able to call each other by name.
Frank Horrigan: We're not friends.
Mitch Leary: Sure we are.
Frank Horrigan: I've seen what you do to friends.
Mitch Leary: What's that supposed to mean?
Frank Horrigan: You slit your friend's throat.
Mitch Leary: You talked to Coppinger, Frank?
Frank Horrigan: Yeah, that's right.
Mitch Leary: Did you delouse? The man's a professional liar.
Frank Horrigan: I saw the photos.
Mitch Leary: No, you saw what he wanted you to see, Frank.
Frank Horrigan: I saw a picture of, uh, your friend lying on the floor with his throat cut.
Mitch Leary: What you didn't see, Frank, what you couldn't possibly know, is: they sent my best friend - my comrade in arms - to my home to kill me!
Who wouldn't relish the opportunity to redeem themselves for a past failure if given a second chance? That's the simple premise behind IN THE LINE OF FIRE, the latest film to star Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood. But the movie takes this thin idea and runs with it, resulting in a taut and genuinely believable political thriller that's every bit as watchable as the laconic star himself.
