The Negotiator - A lesser-known 90s action classic

There were plenty of great (and dare I say 'overblown?') action films to come out of the nineties, most notably 'The Rock, Speed' and 'Con Air,' but 'The Negotiator' always seems to get overlooked in my opinion.  Maybe it's because its two lead normally get linked with other nineties classics, i.e. Samuel L Jackson with 'Pulp Fiction' and Kevin Spacey with 'American Beauty.' Yes, there may not be quite as many explosions and high-octane chases in this one, but it still seems like it should exist in the same (and to use a modern phrase) 'shared universe.'

Jackson plays a police negotiator who gets framed for a crime he didn't commit.  While he takes hostages and holds up in the very police building he's being investigated by, he specifically requests the services of fellow negotiator Spacey to help him clear his name.  Therefore, if you can overlook the fact that this film probably should have been called 'The Negotiators' (plural) it really is pretty good fun.

There's always going to be a market for films where you can basically forget about realism and enjoy the action and when you have two leads like Jackson and Spacey, you know they're going to turn in excellent performances.  There are enough other characters they interact with along the way, but you probably won't remember too many of them (with the possible exception of a weirdly-young looking Paul Giamatti) - it's the two leads who you'll remember all the way.

It's a simple premise and what little 'extras' to the plot I won't go into for fear of spoiling it, but if you ever get bored of watching Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage saving San Francisco, or Keanu Reeves flagging down buses, you really could get a similar 'fix' of action from spending a couple of hours with Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one