Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: A professional hostage negotiator is being framed, so tries to get out the only way he knows how.
Biased, pithy comments: I think it says something about American society when we need to have someone whose sole job is to ``talk down'' a hostage-taker. Do we really have that many hostage-takers? This film took forever to get going---it weighs in at a long two and a half hours, and much of it is front-heavy. Since Spacey is billed second, we know the story won't really get really going until he gets on screen. However, the middle hour of this film is quality entertainment---it's wild, it's unpredictable, and both Spacey and Jackson are fantastic actors who deliver some solidly-written dialog with great gusto. Towards the end of the film, it gets a little more conventional and the cliches begin to mount, but in there, somewhere, is a really, really great movie. As it is, it's just an OK movie directed and acted well, with a few plot holes that bug you as you leave. Your mileage may vary.
Other Notes: You'd have to hit the hard drive to really destroy the data on a computer, and even then you'd probably have to hit it a few times.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Sameul L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer.
Directed by: F. Gary Gray