“In the
Line of Fire”
Movie
Review
Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, and Rene Russon feature in
the 1993 American political action thriller In the Line of Fire, which was
directed by Wolfgang Peterson. The movie, which was written by Jeff Maguire, is
about a former CIA operative who becomes obsessed and disillusioned and plots
to kill the president of the United States, as well as the Secret Service agent
who hunts him down. The last remaining active-duty Secret Service agent from
the team that had protected John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, at the time of
his assassination in 1963 is Clint Eastwood's character. Dylan McDermott, Gary
Cole, John Mahoney, and Fred Dalton Thompson all appear in the movie. The movie
was a box office and critical hit, and it received three nominations for the
66th Academy Awards.
At a marina, Frank Horrigan and Al D'Andrea had a meeting
with participants in a counterfeiting ring. Mendoza, the group's commander,
informs Horrigan that D'Andrea is an undercover agent for the US Secret Service,
and he orders him to show his allegiance by putting a pistol to D'Andrea's head
and firing. Mendoza is relieved to see that Frank passed the test and avoided
being suspected when the pistol just clicks. Horrigan then uses his own weapon
to fire and kill Mendoza's men before posing as a Secret Service agent and
taking Mendoza into custody.
Horrigan looks into a landlady's complaint concerning
Joseph McCrawley, an absentee renter of an apartment. In addition to a
model-building magazine and a Time cover with the President's head circled, he
also discovers a collage of images and newspaper stories on notable murders.
Only one photo, which depicts a much younger Horrigan standing behind John F
Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 on the day Kennedy was slain, is left when Horrigan
and D'Andrea return with a search warrant. The only active agent who guarded
the President that day is Horrigan, who is consumed with regret over his
inability to protect Kennedy from the second fatal gunshot when he had the
opportunity to do so after the initial shooting. Horrigan's family abandoned
him as a result of his frequent drinking due to remorse.
McCrawley calls Horrigan and introduces himself as
"Booth" on the call. He tells Horrigan that, like John Wilkes Booth
and Lee Harvey Oswald, he has plans to kill the president of the United States,
who is running for reelection and making multiple public appearances around the
country. Despite his senior age, Horrigan wants a return to the Presidential
Protective Division, where he begins dating fellow agent Lilly Raines.
Even though Booth is aware that his conversations are being
recorded, he still makes calls to Horrigan as part of his "game." He
names Horrigan a "friend" while making fun of him for failing to
shield Kennedy. After one such call from Lafayette Park, Booth eludes Horrigan
and D'Andrea, but unintentionally leaves a palm print on a passing automobile.
The fingerprint matches one found by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but
the agency is unable to tell the Secret Service who it is since the person's
name is protected by secrecy. The Central Intelligence Agency is informed by
the FBI.
Booth deflates a decorated balloon at a campaign event in
Chicago. The flu-induced drowsiness of Horrigan causes him to misinterpret the
pop for a gunshot and overreact. Due to the misunderstanding, White House Chief
of Staff Harry Sargent and the head of the security detail Bill Watts remove
him from the protective detail but keep the Booth case. When Horrigan and
D'Andrea approach Mitch Leary's Phoenix house after getting a tip from a
model-building magazine, they subdue an unidentified person who turns out to be
a CIA operative working with Leary's accomplice. The CIA claims that Leary is a
former government assassin who had a mental breakdown and is now a
"predator" out to get revenge on his former employers. Leary, who is
preparing for the assassination and has already murdered numerous people,
utilizes his model-making abilities to create a Zip pistol from of composite
material that will pass through metal detectors.
Horrigan intervenes when D'Andrea confides to him that he plans
to retire right away due to nightmares over the Mendoza event. Horrigan and
D'Andrea follow Leary across the roofs of Washington after he teases Horrigan
about the President being in danger in California. Leary shoots and kills
D'Andrea but prevents Horrigan from plummeting to his death as he hangs to the
edge of the building. after the President visits Los Angeles, Horrigan requests
Raines to return him to the protective detail. However, after a television crew
captures him mistaking a hotel bellboy for a security danger and pinning him
against a wall, Watts and Sargent once more order Horrigan to leave the detail.
Horrigan links Leary to the death of a bank employee and
discovers Leary, who has contributed significantly to various campaigns, is
attending a campaign dinner at the hotel. He leaps into the line of the
assassin's bullet as the President approaches Leary, saving the President's
life. Leary uses Horrigan, who is wearing a bulletproof vest, as a hostage in
order to flee to the hotel's exterior elevator while the Secret Service rapidly
retrieves the President. Leary is left dangling from the edge as Horrigan
overcomes him using his earpiece to direct Raines and the sharpshooters where
to aim. Leary lets go and falls to his death, despite Horrigan's best efforts
to save him.
Horrigan, who is now a hero, decides to resign since his
reputation prevents him from performing his duties. On Horrigan's answering
machine, he and Raines discover a post-mortem farewell message from Leary. The
Lincoln Memorial is the location of Horrigan and Raines' first off-duty
meeting, which they revisit.
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