Leads Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich were both very good in this. As Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan and potential presidential assassin Mitch Leary they play an interesting enough cat and mouse game. The back story has Horrigan as the last surviving member of the detail on duty when President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Already tormented by the memory, he's tormented further by Leary, who toys with him as he openly shares his plan. That interplay is well done, but it does seem to drag on for too long, perhaps because Leary's motive in tormenting Horrigan wasn't especially clear. Why so much obsession with Horrigan? I never really understood that. Why not just seek out the chance to assassinate the president? Another point I wasn't clear on is why Horrigan - clearly aging and out of shape - would be put back on the presidential protection team, against the wishes of the head of the detail? It moves the story forward but honestly makes no sense.
The weakest part of the movie revolved around agent Lilly Raines, played by Rene Russo. Russo's performance was fine, but the character didn't hit home with me - especially when a "quasi" romance between Raines and Horrigan was introduced. Why do that? The age difference made it unlikely to say the least. It doesn't really move the story forward at all, but it does seem to detract a bit from the character's credibility. I mean, I can understand Horrigan's interest. Russo is lovely. But I couldn't wrap my head around why Raines would be the least bit interested.
After playing the cat and mouse for a couple of hours, it all leads up to an exciting enough climax. All the performances here are fine, but the story seemed to me to be a bit lacking in some ways. (6/10)
The weakest part of the movie revolved around agent Lilly Raines, played by Rene Russo. Russo's performance was fine, but the character didn't hit home with me - especially when a "quasi" romance between Raines and Horrigan was introduced. Why do that? The age difference made it unlikely to say the least. It doesn't really move the story forward at all, but it does seem to detract a bit from the character's credibility. I mean, I can understand Horrigan's interest. Russo is lovely. But I couldn't wrap my head around why Raines would be the least bit interested.
After playing the cat and mouse for a couple of hours, it all leads up to an exciting enough climax. All the performances here are fine, but the story seemed to me to be a bit lacking in some ways. (6/10)