In the Line of Fire
Encyclopedia
In the Line of Fire is a 1993 American thriller film about a disillusioned and obsessed former CIA
agent 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. Eastwood and Petersen also originally offered the role of Leary to Robert De Niro
, who turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with A Bronx Tale
.
This is the final film Eastwood starred in that was not directed by himself, although he would make a brief cameo appearance in Casper
.
ing group at a marina
. The group's leader, Mendoza, tells Horrigan that he has identified D'Andrea as a United States Secret Service
agent, and forces him to prove his loyalty by putting a gun to D'Andrea’s head and pulling the trigger. Horrigan shoots Mendoza's men, identifies himself as an agent, and arrests the counterfeiter.
Horrigan investigates a complaint about an apartment's absent tenant. He finds a collage
of photographs and newspaper articles on famous assassinations, a model building
magazine, and a Time
cover with the President's head circled. When Horrigan and his partner return with a search warrant
only one photograph remains, which shows a much younger Horrigan standing behind John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963
. He is the only remaining active agent who was guarding the President that day, but guilt over his failure to react quickly enough to the first shot in Dallas to take the next one in Kennedy's place caused Horrigan to drink excessively and his family to leave.
Horrigan receives a phone call from the tenant, who calls himself “Booth”. He tells Horrigan that like John Wilkes Booth
and Lee Harvey Oswald
he plans to kill the President, who is running for reelection and is making many public appearances around the country. Horrigan asks to return to the Presidential Protective Detail despite his age, where he begins a relationship with fellow agent Lilly Raines.
Booth continues to call Horrigan as part of his "game" although he knows his calls are tapped and traced
. He mocks the agent's failure to protect Kennedy, but calls him a "friend". Booth escapes Horrigan and D'Andrea after one such call from Lafayette Park
, but leaves fingerprint
s. The FBI matches the print
, but the identity is classified so the bureau cannot disclose it to the Secret Service; it does, however, notify the CIA.
At a campaign event in Chicago Booth pops a decorative balloon which Horrigan, who has the flu, mistakes for a gunshot. Due to the error he leaves the protective detail but remains in charge of the Booth case. Horrigan and D'Andrea learn from the CIA that Booth is Mitch Leary, a former operative (a “wetboy”) who has suffered a mental breakdown
and is now a "predator". Leary, who has already killed several people as he prepares for the assassination, uses his modelmaking skills to build a composite
zip gun to evade metal detectors and hides the bullets and springs in a keyring.
D'Andrea tells his partner he is going to retire immediately because of nightmares about the Mendoza incident, but Horrigan insists he needs his help. After Leary taunts Horrigan about the President facing danger in California, the assassin kills D'Andrea after the two agents chase him across Washington rooftops. Horrigan asks Raines to reassign him to the protective detail as the President visits Los Angeles, but a television crew films him mistaking a bellboy at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel for a security threat, and he must again leave the detail.
Horrigan connects Leary to a bank employee's murder and learns that Leary, who has made a large campaign contribution, is among the guests of a campaign dinner at the hotel. He sees the President approach the assassin and jumps in front of his bullet. As the Secret Service quickly removes the President, Leary uses Horrigan—who is wearing a bulletproof vest
—as a hostage to escape to the hotel's external elevator. The agent uses his earpiece to tell Raines and sharpshooters where to aim; although they miss Leary, Horrigan defeats him. The assassin chooses to fall to his death from the elevator.
Horrigan, now a hero, retires as his fame no longer lets him do his job. He and Raines find a farewell message from Leary on Horrigan's answering machine. Horrigan and Raines leave the house and visit the Lincoln Memorial
.
, a teen comedy starring Scott Baio
. For "Fire", Apple made several research trips to the U.S. Secret Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. and recruited Secret Service agents, including Robert Snow, to consult. Snow helped lead Apple to the real Secret Service Agent the Clint Eastood character is modeled on. The Secret Service also gave an official nod to Apple's project.
Apple planned on making a movie about a U.S. Secret Service Agent on detail during the Kennedy assassination since his boyhood. Apple was inspired and intrigued by a vivid early childhood memory of meeting Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in person surrounded by Secret Service Agents with earpieces in dark suits and sunglasses. The movie concept later struck Apple as an adolescent watching televised replays of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1991, writer Jeff Maguire came aboard and completed the script that would become the movie.
Filming began in late 1992 in Washington, D.C. Scenes in the White House were filmed on a pre-built set, while an Air Force One
interior set had to be built at a cost of $250,000.
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 President George Herbert Walker Bush's and Governor Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign
events.
The movie also uses digitized imagery from 1960s Clint Eastwood movies inserted into the Kennedy assassination scenes. As Jeff Apple described it to the Los Angeles Times, Clint "gets the world's first digital haircut."
. Roger Ebert
gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing: "Most thrillers these days are about stunts and action. In the Line of Fire has a mind."
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent who attempts to assassinate
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
agent who tracks him. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen is a German film director and screenwriter. His films include The NeverEnding Story, Enemy Mine, Outbreak, In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, Troy, and Poseidon...
and stars Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Agent Frank Horrigan and John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
as assassin Mitch Leary.
Eastwood's character is the sole active-duty Secret Service agent remaining from the detail guarding John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, at the time of his assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
in 1963. Rene Russo
Rene Russo
- Early life :Russo was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Shirley , a factory worker and barmaid, and Nino Russo, a sculptor and car mechanic who left the family when Rene was two. Her father and maternal grandfather were of Italian descent. Russo grew up with her sister, Toni, and their...
, Dylan McDermott
Dylan McDermott
Mark Anthony McDermott , better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott, is an American actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice and his role in the series Dark Blue as Lt. Carter Shaw. McDermott currently stars in FX...
, Gary Cole
Gary Cole
Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
, John Mahoney
John Mahoney
John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
, and Fred Thompson also star. The film was co-produced by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and Castle Rock Entertainment
Castle Rock Entertainment
Castle Rock Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a subsidiary of Warner Bros...
, with Columbia handling distribution. Eastwood and Petersen also originally offered the role of Leary to Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, who turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
.
This is the final film Eastwood starred in that was not directed by himself, although he would make a brief cameo appearance in Casper
Casper (film)
Casper is a 1995 American comedy fantasy film starring Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci, based on the Casper the Friendly Ghost animated cartoons and comic books. The ghosts featured in the film were created through computer-generated imagery...
.
Plot
Frank Horrigan and Al D’Andrea meet with members of a counterfeitCounterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
ing group at a marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
. The group's leader, Mendoza, tells Horrigan that he has identified D'Andrea as a United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
agent, and forces him to prove his loyalty by putting a gun to D'Andrea’s head and pulling the trigger. Horrigan shoots Mendoza's men, identifies himself as an agent, and arrests the counterfeiter.
Horrigan investigates a complaint about an apartment's absent tenant. He finds a collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
of photographs and newspaper articles on famous assassinations, a model building
Model building
Model building as a hobby involves the creation of models either from kits or from materials and components acquired by the builder.Categories of modelling include:*Scale model building*Live steam models*Matchstick models*Military models...
magazine, and a Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
cover with the President's head circled. When Horrigan and his partner return with a search warrant
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
only one photograph remains, which shows a much younger Horrigan standing behind John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. He is the only remaining active agent who was guarding the President that day, but guilt over his failure to react quickly enough to the first shot in Dallas to take the next one in Kennedy's place caused Horrigan to drink excessively and his family to leave.
Horrigan receives a phone call from the tenant, who calls himself “Booth”. He tells Horrigan that like John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
and Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
he plans to kill the President, who is running for reelection and is making many public appearances around the country. Horrigan asks to return to the Presidential Protective Detail despite his age, where he begins a relationship with fellow agent Lilly Raines.
Booth continues to call Horrigan as part of his "game" although he knows his calls are tapped and traced
Call tracing
In telecommunication, call tracing is a procedure that permits an entitled user to be informed about the routing of data for an established connection, identifying the entire route from the origin to the destination....
. He mocks the agent's failure to protect Kennedy, but calls him a "friend". Booth escapes Horrigan and D'Andrea after one such call from Lafayette Park
Lafayette Park
Lafayette Park may refer to a location in the United States:*Lafayette Park, Detroit, Michigan, a park, development, and neighborhood*Lafayette Park Historic District, a historic district in Albany, New York...
, but leaves fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s. The FBI matches the print
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation . IAFIS provides automated fingerprint search capabilities, latent searching capability, electronic image...
, but the identity is classified so the bureau cannot disclose it to the Secret Service; it does, however, notify the CIA.
At a campaign event in Chicago Booth pops a decorative balloon which Horrigan, who has the flu, mistakes for a gunshot. Due to the error he leaves the protective detail but remains in charge of the Booth case. Horrigan and D'Andrea learn from the CIA that Booth is Mitch Leary, a former operative (a “wetboy”) who has suffered a mental breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and is now a "predator". Leary, who has already killed several people as he prepares for the assassination, uses his modelmaking skills to build a composite
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
zip gun to evade metal detectors and hides the bullets and springs in a keyring.
D'Andrea tells his partner he is going to retire immediately because of nightmares about the Mendoza incident, but Horrigan insists he needs his help. After Leary taunts Horrigan about the President facing danger in California, the assassin kills D'Andrea after the two agents chase him across Washington rooftops. Horrigan asks Raines to reassign him to the protective detail as the President visits Los Angeles, but a television crew films him mistaking a bellboy at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel for a security threat, and he must again leave the detail.
Horrigan connects Leary to a bank employee's murder and learns that Leary, who has made a large campaign contribution, is among the guests of a campaign dinner at the hotel. He sees the President approach the assassin and jumps in front of his bullet. As the Secret Service quickly removes the President, Leary uses Horrigan—who is wearing a bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest
A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...
—as a hostage to escape to the hotel's external elevator. The agent uses his earpiece to tell Raines and sharpshooters where to aim; although they miss Leary, Horrigan defeats him. The assassin chooses to fall to his death from the elevator.
Horrigan, now a hero, retires as his fame no longer lets him do his job. He and Raines find a farewell message from Leary on Horrigan's answering machine. Horrigan and Raines leave the house and visit the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
.
Cast
- Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Agent Frank Horrigan, a Secret Service agent still haunted by his failure to save John F. Kennedy and now seeks redemption. - John MalkovichJohn MalkovichJohn Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
as Mitch Leary, a psychotic but highly intelligent assassin determined to kill the President of the United States. - Rene RussoRene Russo- Early life :Russo was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Shirley , a factory worker and barmaid, and Nino Russo, a sculptor and car mechanic who left the family when Rene was two. Her father and maternal grandfather were of Italian descent. Russo grew up with her sister, Toni, and their...
as Lilly Raines, a Secret Service agent and Frank's love interest. - Dylan McDermottDylan McDermottMark Anthony McDermott , better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott, is an American actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice and his role in the series Dark Blue as Lt. Carter Shaw. McDermott currently stars in FX...
as Al D'Andrea, Frank's partner until his death at Leary's hands. - Gary ColeGary ColeGary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
as Bill Watts, Frank's superior, wary of Frank's reputation. - Fred Dalton ThompsonFred Dalton ThompsonFred Dalton Thompson , is an American politician, actor, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, and radio host. He served as a Republican U.S...
as Harry Sargent, the White House Chief of Staff, also distrusting of Frank. - John MahoneyJohn MahoneyJohn Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
as Secret Service Director Sam Campagna, Frank's colleague and friend in the Secret Service. - Gregory Alan WilliamsGregory Alan WilliamsGregory Alan Williams is an American actor and author. Williams is best known for portraying Garner Ellerbee in the syndicated series Baywatch.-Early life and acting career:...
as Matt Wilder - Jim Curley as the President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
(codenamedSecret Service codenameThe United States Secret Service uses code names for U.S. presidents, first ladies, and other prominent persons and locations. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names...
"Traveler"), Leary's target. - Sally Hughes as the First Lady of the United StatesFirst Lady of the United StatesFirst Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
- Tobin BellTobin BellTobin Bell is an American film and television character actor. After years of work doing stand-ins and background work on films, he got his first major acting job in Mississippi Burning and went on to star in made-for-television films and guest star in television shows throughout the 1990s.Bell...
as Mendoza, a counterfeiter, apprehended by Frank in the film's opening scene. - Clyde KusatsuClyde KusatsuClyde Kusatsu is a U.S. actor.Kusatsu was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he attended ʻIolani School. Kusatsu began acting in Honolulu summer stock, and after studying theatre at Northwestern University, started to make his mark on the small screen in the mid-1970s...
as FBI agent Jack Okura - Steve HytnerSteve HytnerStephen Arthur "Steve" Hytner is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Kenny Bania in Seinfeld...
as FBI agent Tony Carducci - Patrika DarboPatrika DarboPatrika Darbo is an American actress.-Early life:Born Patricia Davidson in Jacksonville, Florida, Darbo grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She studied theater at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, graduating in 1970, and undertook further study at the Atlanta School of Drama...
as Pam Magnus - John Heard as Prof. Riger
- Joshua MalinaJoshua MalinaJoshua Charles Malina is an American film and stage actor. He is perhaps most famous for portraying Will Bailey on the NBC drama The West Wing and Jeremy Goodwin on Sports Night.-Personal life:...
as Secret Service agent Chavez
Production
Producer, Jeff Apple, began developing "In the Line of Fire" in the mid-eighties. His previous credits included Zapped!Zapped!
Zapped! is a 1982 teen sex comedy starring Scott Baio as a teen who acquires telekinetic powers. The film is regarded as a parody of Carrie but also includes spoofs of The Exorcist, Taxi Driver, Star Trek and the 1969 Kurt Russell film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.-Cast:Baio stars as Barney...
, a teen comedy starring Scott Baio
Scott Baio
Scott Vincent James Baio is an American actor and television director, best known for his roles as Chachi Arcola on the sitcom Happy Days and its spin-off, Joanie Loves Chachi, and as the title character on the sitcom Charles in Charge....
. For "Fire", Apple made several research trips to the U.S. Secret Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. and recruited Secret Service agents, including Robert Snow, to consult. Snow helped lead Apple to the real Secret Service Agent the Clint Eastood character is modeled on. The Secret Service also gave an official nod to Apple's project.
Apple planned on making a movie about a U.S. Secret Service Agent on detail during the Kennedy assassination since his boyhood. Apple was inspired and intrigued by a vivid early childhood memory of meeting Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in person surrounded by Secret Service Agents with earpieces in dark suits and sunglasses. The movie concept later struck Apple as an adolescent watching televised replays of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1991, writer Jeff Maguire came aboard and completed the script that would become the movie.
Filming began in late 1992 in Washington, D.C. Scenes in the White House were filmed on a pre-built set, while an Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
interior set had to be built at a cost of $250,000.
A sub-plot of the film is the President's reelection campaign
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
. For the scenes of campaign rallies the filmmakers used digitally-altered scenes from President George Herbert Walker Bush's and Governor Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign
Bill Clinton presidential campaign, 1992
Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for President of the United States was a critical turning point for the Democratic Party, which had controlled the White House for only four of the previous twenty-four years. Initially viewed as an unlikely prospect to win his party's nomination, Clinton did so and...
events.
The movie also uses digitized imagery from 1960s Clint Eastwood movies inserted into the Kennedy assassination scenes. As Jeff Apple described it to the Los Angeles Times, Clint "gets the world's first digital haircut."
Critical response
The film received mostly positive reviews, carrying a "Certified Fresh" rating of 97% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing: "Most thrillers these days are about stunts and action. In the Line of Fire has a mind."
Box office performance
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.Accolades
The film received three Academy Award nominations:- Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
- John Malkovich (lost to Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
for The FugitiveThe Fugitive (1993 film)The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
) - Best Original Screenplay (lost to The PianoThe PianoThe Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...
) - Best Film Editing (lost to Schindler's ListSchindler's ListSchindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
)