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July 17, 2008|Although no movie entertained me more the summer it came out, In the Line of Fire falls prey to the law of diminishing returns. Its narrative reveals and editing strategies just seem so cumbersome in retrospect, while its indelible moments are too indelible for their own good, unforgettable yet not compulsively rewatchable. (It's in the latter way, especially, that In the Line of Fire misses the mark of becoming an honorary chapter in the Dirty Harry saga.) Maybe it's simply that Rene Russo is such a nineties relic, but whatever the case, I frankly had to morsel out this latest viewing over a period of days. Doesn't help, I guess, that Sony's catalogue reissue of the film on Blu-ray is nothing revelatory: once excellent/now adequate, the master prepared for DVD has been recycled (albeit at the much higher screen resolution of 1080p) and sports an ineffably dated appearance. Not unlike the recent BD release of Twister, there's a slight waxiness to the image that, despite the contradictory presence of grain, suggests a tad too much DVNR; colours, meanwhile, are a little oversaturated and tilt archaically towards the magenta end of the spectrum. Probably the greatest improvement this upgrade affords is in the area of fine detail--shadows, especially, are more intricate than ever before. As for the attendant 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track, the movie sounds about as current as it looks. Not that I'm condoning some sort of revisionist remix, and perhaps I shouldn't be passing judgment on the audio until I can sample it at its full bitrate, anyway. All of the Special Edition's supplementary material resurfaces here (in standard-def), where it's joined by startup previews (in HiDef) for 21 and the first season of "Damages".-
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2.40:1, 1080p (MPEG-4); English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Spanish DD 5.1; BD-50
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As he's courting fellow field agent Lilly Raines (Rene Russo), Secret Service man Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) accuses her and all her female colleagues of being departmental window-dressing. (He's like the boy on the playground who lets a girl know he likes her by yanking her ponytail.) But Frank politically corrects himself a moment later in admitting that the job proper, which entails much running alongside bullet-proof limousines, is a bit of a dog-and-pony show. Although In the Line of Fire received the full co-operation/consultation of the Secret Service, as you can see, it admirably steers clear of recruiter propaganda.
After all, you don't have a Clint Eastwood thriller unless our hero's working against the system. Perhaps the film was capitalizing, too, on a renewed national distrust of government fuelled by the release of Oliver Stone's JFK, though unfortunately or ironically, despite a redemptive storyline with a reassuring finish, In the Line of Fire gives some wrong ammunition to conspiracy theorists: a superimposed Clint mingles with Kennedy in archival footage, and the digital blend of past and present is seamless enough that we're left feeling paranoid and exploited by it.
While germane to the plot, these special effects also border on sacrilege--and they are, in the end, window-dressing for a film that's already overflowing with same, such as the ubiquitous White House and Lincoln Memorial exteriors. Nevertheless, In the Line of Fire is rich in suspense and iconic moments, a cracking good time at the cinema (or in front of the tube). It's formulaic in all the right places as well as charmingly forthright about aging in a manner we hadn't seen in Hollywood schlock since 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (a sequel that grows in stature with each passing day).
Thirty years ago, Frank failed to protect John F. Kennedy from that fatal bullet. Karma has circled back for him in the form of an enigmatic assassin who's pledged to kill the current (fictitious) president. Booth (Oscar-nominated John Malkovich) teases Frank with his plans for any number of reasons: the Dealey Plaza infamy; the otherwise exemplary track record; the fact that Frank is no spring chicken anymore (he can't even nap without co-workers mistaking him for dead). You get the feeling that Booth (so named for John Wilkes...), handicapped by an awful temper, has sat out a few terms waiting for the perfect dance partner in his tango with destiny.
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, In the Line of Fire is awash in the melancholy confetti of Unforgiven (1992), the Eastwood-helmed swan song in which Clint's character, donning his chaps one last time, also encounters his zombefied past. Unforgiven is better than In the Line of Fire, but then, Eastwood's westerns generally best his Dirty Harry pictures; if nothing else, both films make for graceful bows to the two halves of Eastwood's dual-stardom, though In the Line of Fire's missteps (including the notion that Malkovich, with his unmistakable eyes and curly grin, could ever be a master of disguise) are much more prevalent.
Columbia Tri-Star has at last given In the Line of Fire the Special Edition treatment on DVD. The only recycled element is the previous, bare-bones disc's transfer, and that's hardly a deficit: the masterfully-compressed 2.35:1, 16x9-enhanced video is high in shadow detail and low in grain; the somewhat fuzzy opening shots are misleadingly noisy. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio isn't quite so dynamite, as it's lacking in substantive bass. Split-surround activity, on the other hand, is driving--I wish, in a geeky way, that editor Anne V. Coates had lingered on the motorcade, for it sounds terrific in its brief appearance.
J.M. Kenny of Two Dog produced this SE and prompts a ready and willing Petersen during a feature-length commentary. Kenny, obviously nervous, completed interviews with other In the Line of Fire principals before recording their dialogue, so he sometimes gets Petersen's take on what was said in them, but little else distinguishes this track. The deleted scenes portion of the disc is more enlightening as it highlights Petersen's gift for losing redundancies, though a Fidel Castro joke was unceremoniously elided from the finished film. I don't believe I'm the first critic to point this out, either.
Speaking of redundant, "The Ultimate Sacrifice: In the Line of Fire"--a new, 22-minute documentary that extensively explores the Secret Service's role off-camera--cancels out the puff piece "Behind the Scenes with the Secret Service" hosted by technical advisor Bob Snow and produced for Showtime back in '93. "Catching the Counterfeiters" discusses the alterations that were made to U.S. currency in 1996, the most drastic efforts yet to stop the spread of funny money. I can't grasp how spoiling the secret markings on a $100 bill will discourage counterfeiters, but it's a great featurette just the same. "How'd They Do That?", a quick look at the compositing of Eastwood onto history, is equally absorbing. And scary. Ten TV spots, In the Line of Fire's theatrical teaser, and trailers for Petersen's Das Boot and Air Force One, not to mention Columbia's traditional fold-out insert, additionally help this collectible package to score a direct hit.-Bill Chambers
© Film Freak Central; filmfreakcentral.net. This review may not be reprinted, in whole or in part, without the express consent of its author.
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DVD GRADES:
Image A
Sound A-
Extras B+ |
DVD VITALS:
Running Time
127 minutes
MPAA
R
Aspect Ratio(s)
2.35:1 ONLY, 16x9-enhanced
Languages
English DD 5.1,
English Dolby Surround,
French Dolby Surround,
Spanish Dolby Surround,
Portuguese Dolby
Surround
CC
Yes
Subtitles
English, French, Thai, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, Spanish
DVD-9
Region One
Columbia Tri-Star
Buy IN THE LINE OF FIRE posters at Moviegoods (click on image)
What's coming out on DVD? Check the release calendar
Published: February, 2001
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