F. Gary Gray is a terrific director when it comes to delivering action, suspense and thrills. He is overlooked as a talented director because his films tend to be "cliched" and "derivative". However I think he's a good director, not great, not excellent, but good. Gray knows how to deliver a good story to the screen,
and he most certainly does it with The Negotiator. This is an electrifying film with plenty of action, but more importantly, suspense. The story follows a cop who is accused of killing his partner. His partner uncovered a conspiracy of embezzlement with the police department. Officer Danny Roman must then take matters into his own hands to uncover the truth. He takes a group of people hostage at the Chicago internal affairs division headquarters.The Negotiator is a well crafted action thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The film is not perfect, but it certainly delivers good entertainment. Samuel L. Jackson gives a great performance and so does Kevin Spacey. The plot is very interesting, like I said itr's not perfect, but there are more good things than bad in the film. The acting choices are good, and everyone delivers something unique on screen. I really enjoyed this film and despite the somewhat lackluster bits, theres too much going on that makes up for the bad. For me, The Negotiator is one of Samuel L. Jackson's best films, and he delivers something on screen thats better than most of his other work.
May 21, 2011
Top Critic
