tplayer49 Very slow moving and predictable. So many things in here that would never happen to the point of ridiculousness. Especially at the end when a gun is shot out of someone's hand... with the area surrounded by cops. And no one got the ricochet? Really?

Thomas Drufke In the decade of exploding action films with plenty of clichéd characters and plot points, The Negotiator manages to avoid most of the predictable moments and keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. This was also the beginning of the endless Samuel L Jackson action flicks with an overwhelming amount of quotable lines. But as much as I liked Jackson, I loved the supporting cast. When you have people like David Morse, Paul Giamatti, and Kevin Spacey rounding out the cast, the film is in good hands.The film tells the story of a police negotiator who gets his world flipped on him when he is accused of murdering his best friend and corruption and is forced to take matters into his own hands. I like the idea of having what you try and stop everyday as a living, end up being the very thing you're doing to prove your innocence. It's an added bonus that the film takes place and is filmed mostly in Chicago, my hometown. There are the inevitable slow-motion shots and occasionally questionable one-liners, I think the film tends to stay away from the grain. The story definitely seemed fresh, and the back and forth between Spacey and Jackson was the best part of the movie.I will say I was pretty worried about how the film was going to end knowing the whole movie took place in one location. But I feel the movie tended to get a little bit obsessed with itself towards the climax. A few of the characters motives were questionable at best and it felt melodramatic at times. With that said, this is definitely one of those movies that if it comes on T.V., I probably wont want to turn it off as it has endlessly re-watchable scenes with classic Spacey and Jackson performances, not to mention just how funny Giamatti is here as he is the one and only source for comedic relief.+Spacey & Jackson dynamic +Chi-town +Giamatti is hilarious +Tends to stay away from the clichés -Melodramatic towards the end -Some character motives 7.6/10

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** Top Chicago PD hostage negotiator Let. Danny Roman, Samuel L. Jackson, gets the word from his partner police officer and undercover man Nathan Roenick,Paul Gulfoyle.. that a number of police as well as members of Internal Affairs have been stealing from the police disability & pension fund and that his life, in knowing who they are, is now in mortal danger.Just when Ropman was to get the lowdown on who's responsible for this unspeakable crime he's gunned down by a hooded assassin while sitting in his unmarked police car. To make it look like Roman was responsible from his partners murder evidence is planted at the murder scene to implicate the totality innocent man. Not someone to take things lying down Roman in a wild and unexpected move, after he was to have his both gun & badge taken away, takes a number of police personnel hostage in the Chicago Municiple Building including the head of Internal Affaires Terrence Niebaum, J.T Walsh.Samuel L. Jackson is perfect as the Danny Roman "The Man Upstairs", on the 20th floor, who's both out to prove himself innocent as well as expose those who framed him in this high powered action drama that never lets up for a moment with the entire Chicago PO as well as local FBI Agents hot on his tail. There's also Kevin Spacey as chief negotiator Chris Sabian who after realizing what's happening in regards to the so-called crimes that Roman is accused of joins forces with him in exposing the real murderers of Nathan Roenick as well as a number of other person who got wind of what was happening with the Chicago Police retirement and disability fund. Where as much as $2,000,000.00 mysterious disappeared right the Chicago PD's noses.***SPOILERS*** As we soon find out to both our shock & surprise the very police who are trying to rescue the hostages held by Roman are the very ones involved in the both embezzling of the police pension fund as well as murder of officer Roenick! During the rescue attempt those involved in rescuing the hostages go out of their way to murder the head of the Affairs Division Terrence Niebaum in fear that he'll spill the beans on them in order to save his own hide. It's now up to both Danny Roman & head of the rescue team, who was since relived of his duties, Chris Sabian to uncover the web of lies that was directed on poor Danny Roman and expose the real person or persons behind all these horrific crimes. And it takes for Roman to almost lose his life, in a staged and flak murder attempt, in doing it.

GoldenShadow5184 Going into this movie, you shouldn't really have such high expectations. You should look at it for what it is: a good, solid action thriller. Even though you probably wouldn't have very, very high expectations going into this movie, I think you would have gotten much more than what you were looking for! I think that the best aspect of the movie would probably be the performances given by Samuel Jackon ("Pulp Fiction", "Die Hard with a Vengeance"), and Kevin Spacey ("Seven", "The Usual Suspects"), as well as a solid performance by David Morse (who, in the following year, gave another solid performance in "The Green Mile"). I thought that they were all great.The reason I say that you might have gotten much more than what you were looking for is because of the movie's unpredictable scenarios and how well they were handled. During the course of the movie, I didn't really expect that Frost (played by Ron Rifkin) was going to be behind it all.Overall, this should definitely please fans of the genre and anyone who is a fan of Samuel Jackson and Kevin Spacey should definitely check this movie out, as it is going to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time!8/10