Danny Roman, Samuel L. Jackson, is a negotiator in the Chicago police force; in the tense opening sequence of F. Gary Gray`s film, he`s seen talking down a deranged man holding a gun at his small daughter`s head. But events soon place Danny on the wrong side of the law: his partner is murdered, he`s the No 1 suspect, and though he knows that cops in his own department are responsible, he can`t prove it. So he invades the office of Internal Affairs investigator J.T. Walsh and holds him, and others, hostage, demanding a negotiator from another precinct - Chris Sabian, Kevin Spacey.
The Negotiator has all the makings of a fine police thriller - an excellent cast, an intriguing idea, a tense storyline. Unfortunately director Gray and screenwriters James De Monaco and Kevin Fox fritter away the suspense by dragging the film out to the inordinate length of almost 2 hours 40 minutes: as a result the viewer has far too much time to think about the improbabilities of it all, and the crucial tension is fatally undermined. You`d have thought that a top producer like Arnon Milchan would have seen that what this film needed was claustrophobic atmosphere and a very tight running time - unfortunately, and despite solid performances, over-inflation fatally diminishes the project.
