
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 10, 1993                   TAG: 9307100041
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B10   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Mike Mayo Correspondent
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

'LINE OF FIRE' IS FIRST-RATE

Given its stereotyped characters and situations, "In the Line of Fire" might have been just another suspense movie, not that much different from the interchangeable titles that show up in video stores and theaters every week.

But the film is so well-made in almost every respect - writing, acting, characters, tension - and its star does such a terrific job, that it rises above the level of the genre. At heart, this is first-rate Clint Eastwood action escapism, and that's something moviegoers like.

Frank Horrigan (Eastwood) is a Secret Service agent nearing the end of a long career that began when John Kennedy was in the White House. After a routine (and disposable) introductory sequence, Horrigan discovers a potential problem, a man (John Malkovich) who calls himself Booth and is obsessed with presidential assassinations.

But before Horrigan and his partner D'Andrea (Dylan McDermott) can confront Booth, he vanishes, leaving behind a photograph of the Dallas motorcade, with the young Horrigan's face circled. Later that night, he calls the agent and says that he's planning to kill the current president, who's in the middle of a re-election campaign.

That establishes the two parallel plotlines.

In one, Booth sets in motion his scheme to outwit the Secret Service and get close enough to the president to shoot him. In the other, the agents, led by Horrigan and Lilly Raines (Rene Russo), try to learn who Booth really is and what he's up to. The two lines cross when Booth makes his calls to Horrigan.

It's a device that's been used by crime writers, good and bad, for generations, but it's remarkably effective here. Much of the credit has to go to Malkovich. His calm perceptive villain owes more to Hannibal Lecter than to John Hinckley. Booth - actually Mitch Leary - is an entertaining, manipulative madman who enjoys his work and knows his opposition.

On the other side, Eastwood and Russo add some extra depth to familiar characters in a relationship that we've seen before. The professional side of the characters is convincingly realistic. So is the psychological side. Near the end of the film, when Horrigan tries to explain what his past was like - why he did what he did and why he still wonders about things he didn't do - the emotions ring true.

If only the mechanics of Jeff Maguire's script were as strong. At key moments, he drags out shopworn cliches to keep the plot moving. When it comes to the revelation of Booth's identity, and the reasons behind his obsession and his methods, the answers are nothing new.

Director Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot," "Shattered") may let the pace flag a bit toward the middle, but in the big scenes, he delivers the goods. A long chase along Washington rowhouse rooftops and the big finish in a Los Angeles hotel generate a finely tuned level of suspense.

They provide those edge-of-the-seat moments that moviegoers want to see in thrillers. No, "In the Line of Fire" isn't the masterpiece that last year's "Unforgiven" was. Instead, it's well made summer escapism that should fare well even in this highly competitive season.

\ In the Line of Fire: *** A Columbia Pictures release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 123 min. Rated R for violence, strong language.

by CNB