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 Corporation,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

Several of the scenes with the President campaigning were actually taken from the 1992 campaign of President Bill Clinton.

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Goofs

At the airport as Air Force One is about to depart, the same small crowd of people has been duplicated seven times, via digital effects.

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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

The original UK cinema and video releases were cut by 8 secs (10 secs for video) by the BBFC to heavily edit shots of Al being suffocated with a plastic bag, some bloody gunshot impacts, Sally's head being beaten against a wall, and to remove the neck-breaks of Sally's flatmate. The cuts were fully waived in 2008 for the Blu-ray.

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Connections

Referenced in Community: Modern Espionage (2015)

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Soundtracks

As Time Goes By
Written by Herman Hupfeld

User Reviews

Crackling excitement!

In The Line of Fire gives us a great game of cat and mouse. Clint Eastwood is plagued by John Malkovich in this riveting film. Malkovich says he's going to kill the president, and he purposely calls Eastwood, and pushes his buttons. He questions Eastwood's ability to protect someone. Malkovich brings a cold, but very intelligent mindset to his character. Everything he does, he does for a reason, and he's not shy about killing. Eastwood has to overcome the suspicions of his superiors in order to catch Malkovich, but no one wants to listen to him. The result is a film that crackles with suspense that escalates to a tense scene in a ballroom at the Bonneventure Hotel. Wolfgang Peterson ratchets up the tension and we feel every turn.