In the Line of Fire (1993)

Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan couldn't save Kennedy, but he's determined not to let a clever assassin take out this president.

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writer:

Jeff Maguire

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Frank Horrigan
John Malkovich	...	Mitch Leary
Rene Russo	...	Lilly Raines
Dylan McDermott	...	Al D'Andrea
Gary Cole	...	Bill Watts
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	Harry Sargent
John Mahoney	...	Sam Campagna
Gregory Alan Williams	...	Matt Wilder (as Greg Alan-Williams)
Jim Curley	...	President
Sally Hughes	...	First Lady
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Jack Okura
Steve Hytner	...	Tony Carducci
Tobin Bell	...	Mendoza
Bob Schott	...	Jimmy Hendrickson
Juan A. Riojas	...	Raul

Storyline

Frank Horrigan is a secret service agent who keeps thinking back to November 22, 1963, when, as a hand-picked agent by President Kennedy, he became one of the few agents to have lost a President to an assassin when Kennedy died. Now, former CIA assassin Mitch Leary is stalking the current President, who is running for re-election. Mitch has spent long hours studying Horrigan, and he taunts Horrigan, telling him of his plans to kill the President. Leary plans to kill the president because Leary feels betrayed by the government -- Leary was removed from the CIA, and the CIA is now trying to have him killed. After talking to Leary, Horrigan makes sure he is assigned to presidential protection duty, working with fellow secret service agent Lilly Raines. Horrigan has no intention of failing his President this time around, and he's more than willing to take a bullet. White House Chief of Staff Harry Sargent refuses to alter the President's itinerary, while Horrigan's boss, Secret Service ...

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Plot Keywords:

interrupted sex | miniskirt | assassin | assassination | assassination attempt | 

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Taglines:

An assassin on the loose. A president in danger. Only one man stands between them...

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 July 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

En la línea de fuego

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$102,314,283

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$85,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min 138 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints) SDDS (8 channels) (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To prepare for his role, John Malkovich lived in almost total seclusion for over a month prior to production to connect with Mitch Leary's sense of isolation. He didn't leave his home and wouldn't talk on the phone. He would also rarely watch any television - if he did, it was news programs.

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Goofs

The composite firearm that Leary fabricates fires only .22LR rounds as shown in the film. While these rounds could be "enhanced" by making them explosive-tipped or even fragmentation, they are still a very light caliber bullet traveling at a relatively modest speed. This would make them of limited use in an assassination scenario where a single round might be all that was possible.

Additionally, such a round would not have been immediately fatal to hunter struck in the body as shown earlier in the film. Even if he was struck in the heart, as cases have shown, he could have lived for multiples of minutes afterward and even returned fire.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Al D'Andrea: [running late while driving in his car] Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, Frank, thank God. Thank God. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead.

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Alternate Versions

A small conversation between Frank and Lilly. He asks if she has missed him and if she wants to go out with him for dinner.

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

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Soundtracks

The Stars and Stripes Forever
(uncredited)
Written by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

Underrated Thriller

Quite simply a well-made, well-written and wonderfully acted movie. Eastwood is classic as grizzled Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan and Rene Russo

holds her own as partner (and love interest) Lilly Raines. But the movie's

greatness rests on the shoulders of John Malkovich as "Booth". He captures

this character's rage and hatred, as well as his humanity oddly enough.

Personally I think this was his best performance and should have received an

Oscar for it (But I loved Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive as well that year). Overall a great movie to see you want to peek into an assassin's mind and be

on the edge of your seat the whole way through. Enjoy!!