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In the Line of Fire
1993 128 min United States of America R 18+
★7.9
Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Trailers
EN
EN
Description
Veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling himself "Booth" threatens the life of the current President, forcing Horrigan to come back to protection detail to confront the ghosts from his past.
Budget:
$40M
US Gross:
$102.31M
Worldwide:
$177M
Starring
Clint Eastwood
Actor
John Malkovich
Actor
Rene Russo
Actor
Awards
Academy Awards 1994
— Best Film Editing
Academy Awards 1994
— Best Screenplay
Golden Globe 1994
— Best Supporting Actor
BAFTA 1994
— Best Supporting Actor
BAFTA 1994
— Best Original Screenplay
MTV Movie & TV Awards 1994
— Best Villain
Saturn Awards 1994
— Best Supporting Actor
BAFTA 1994
— Best Film Editing
Academy Awards 1994
— Best Supporting Actor
Key opinion
In the Line of Fire is a widely acclaimed political thriller anchored by the compelling psychological showdown between Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich. While some viewers find its measured, dialogue-driven pacing to be slow or lacking in consistent suspense, most consider it a timeless and expertly crafted genre benchmark.
| Acting | Clint Eastwood provides a nuanced, vulnerable portrayal of an aging agent haunted by past failures, which grounds the film's human element. | |
| Acting | John Malkovich delivers a complex, shape-shifting performance as the antagonist that elevates the cat-and-mouse dynamic beyond typical genre tropes. | |
| Score | Ennio Morricone’s score effectively enhances the film's atmosphere and adds depth to the onscreen tension. | |
| Screenplay | The script succeeds in creating a psychological thriller that prioritizes moral ambiguity and character motivation over simple spectacle. | |
| Pacing | Opinions on pacing are split: supporters value the film's deliberate, tension-building tempo, while others find the 128-minute runtime to be sluggish and lacking in consistent momentum. | |
| Direction | While some critics praise the technical execution and realistic depiction of Secret Service procedures, others find the action scenes occasionally poorly staged or distractingly implausible. |