The Negotiator

This article is about the 1998 film. For the unrelated 2003 Japanese film, see Kōshōnin. For the unrelated novel, see The Negotiator (novel). For the unrelated 2018 film called The Negotiator in the UK, see Beirut (film).

The Negotiator
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	F. Gary Gray
Written by	James DeMonaco Kevin Fox
Produced by	David Hoberman Arnon Milchan
Starring	Samuel L. Jackson Kevin Spacey David Morse Ron Rifkin John Spencer J. T. Walsh
Cinematography	Russell Carpenter
Edited by	Christian Wagner
Music by	Graeme Revell
Production companies	Regency Enterprises Mandeville Films New Regency Taurus Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	July 29, 1998 (1998-07-29)
Running time	139 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$43.5 million
Box office	$88 million

The Negotiator is a 1998 American crime thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray. It stars Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey as Chicago Police Department lieutenants who are expert hostage negotiators. The film was released in the United States on July 29, 1998, receiving generally positive reviews from critics and grossing $88 million worldwide. The film is considered by many to be one of Jackson's most underrated films and one of F. Gary Gray’s best films.

Plot

Chicago Police Lieutenant Danny Roman is a top hostage negotiator for the east precinct. His partner, Nate Roenick, warns him that an informant inside the department suspects members of their own unit have embezzled millions from the police disability fund. Roenick is shot dead, and Roman is lured to the scene and discovered by the police, but is unable to corroborate Roenick's story or identify the informant.

Roman is targeted by Internal Affairs Inspector Terence Niebaum, whom Roenick's informant believed was involved in the embezzlement. The murder weapon is recovered and linked to one of Roman's cases, and a search of his home produces evidence of an incriminating offshore bank account, making him the prime suspect in the embezzlement and Roenick's death. Forced to surrender his gun and badge, ostracized by his colleagues, and with charges against him pending, Roman storms into Niebaum's office to confront him, and takes Niebaum, his administrative assistant Maggie, Roman's commander and friend Grant Frost, and con man Rudy Timmons as hostages.

With the building evacuated and placed under siege by his own unit and the FBI, Roman will only speak to fellow negotiator Lieutenant Chris Sabian of the west precinct, and issues his demands: the return of his badge; a department funeral if killed; the identity of Roenick's informant; and the truth about his killer. Sabian, who sees tactical action as a last resort, clashes with Roman's unit, particularly commander Adam Beck. A breach of Niebaum's office backfires when a SWAT marksman refuses to shoot Roman, who captures officers Scott and Markus. Sabian takes command of the scene, but Roman seemingly executes Scott to reestablish control.

Roman releases Frost to Sabian in exchange for restoring the building's electricity, allowing him to access Niebaum's computer. With help from Rudy and Maggie, Roman discovers the embezzlement scheme: Corrupt officers submitted false disability claims that were processed by an unknown insider on the disability fund's board. Niebaum also has wiretap recordings of Roenick, and Sabian claims to have located the informant in an attempt to end the standoff, but Roman realizes he is bluffing when Niebaum's files reveal that Roenick himself was the informant.

When Roman threatens to expose Niebaum to sniper fire, Niebaum admits that Roenick gave him wiretaps implicating his squadmates in the scheme; Niebaum was bribed by the guilty officers to cover up their crimes, but Roenick refused and was killed. Niebaum has safely hidden the wiretaps, but the corrupt officers infiltrate the air vents and open fire, killing Niebaum. Roman fends them off with flashbangs taken from the captured officers, and Niebaum's murder convinces the remaining hostages that Roman is being set up.

The FBI assume jurisdiction, relieving Sabian of command and ordering a full breach. Maggie tells Roman that Niebaum likely kept Roenick's wiretaps at home, while Sabian reenters the building to warn Roman, who reveals that Scott is unharmed. Sabian agrees to help Roman prove his innocence, and as the building is raided and the hostages are rescued, Roman disguises himself in Scott's uniform and escapes. He and Sabian are unable to locate the wiretaps at Niebaum's home, where the corrupt officers prepare to kill Roman, but Frost arrives to negotiate with Roman alone.

Sabian shoots Roman, offering to destroy Roenick's evidence in exchange for a cut of the embezzled funds. Frost agrees, effectively revealing himself as the ringleader of the conspiracy, the insider on the disability fund's board, and Roenick's killer. Crushing the floppy disks Sabian gives him and shooting Niebaum's computer, Frost exits the house to discover that Sabian deliberately only wounded Roman, who broadcast Frost's confession to the police outside. Frost attempts suicide, but is shot in the shoulder by Beck and arrested with the other corrupt officers, and Roman narrowly refrains from shooting Frost to avenge Roenick. As Roman is loaded into an ambulance with his wife, Sabian returns his badge.

Cast

• Samuel L. Jackson as Lieutenant Danny Roman
• Kevin Spacey as Lieutenant Chris Sabian
• David Morse as Commander Adam Beck
• Ron Rifkin as Commander Grant Frost
• John Spencer as Chief Al Travis
• J. T. Walsh as Inspector Terence Niebaum
• Paul Guilfoyle as Nathan "Nate" Roenick (uncredited)
• Siobhan Fallon as Maggie
• Paul Giamatti as Rudy Timmons
• Regina Taylor as Karen Roman
• Bruce Beatty as Markus
• Michael Cudlitz as Palermo
• Carlos Gómez as Eagle
• Tim Kelleher as Argento
• Dean Norris as Scott
• Nestor Serrano as Hellman
• Doug Spinuzza as Tonray
• Leonard Thomas as Allen
• Stephen Lee as Farley
• Robert David Hall as Cale Wangro

Tom Bower also appears uncredited as Omar, an unhinged man whom Danny negotiates with at the beginning of the film.

Production

The script was originally pitched to Disney subsidiary Hollywood Pictures, with David Hoberman attached as producer, but Disney placed the film into turnaround, and sold the project to New Regency Productions, who at that time had a distribution deal with Warner Bros., with Sylvester Stallone in mind to star. Stallone turned the project down and offered the role to Samuel L. Jackson, who had accepted the role.

Music

The original score was composed by Graeme Revell. Revell described the The Negotiator score as difficult due to [F. Gary Gray] who frequently changed his mind. It took about 2-3 months to complete, but ultimately, Revell went with his original compositions, which he felt were the right fit for the film. While he didn’t consider the score experimental, he was proud of it as a solid example of the genre, believing it effectively drove the film's rhythm.

Notes

The film is dedicated to J. T. Walsh, who died several months before the film's release.

Reception

Box office

The Negotiator made $10.2 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office, behind Saving Private Ryan, The Parent Trap and There's Something About Mary. It went on to finish with a worldwide gross of $88 million. Warner Bros. spent $40.3 million promoting the film, and lost an estimated $13 million after all revenues and expenses were factored together.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Negotiator holds an approval rating of 74%, based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The Negotiator's battle of wits doesn't wholly justify its excessive length, but confident direction by F. Gary Gray and formidable performances makes this a situation audiences won't mind being hostage to." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score 62 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Emanuel Levy of Variety wrote: "Teaming for the first time Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson, arguably the two best actors of their generation, in perfectly fitting roles is a shrewd move and the best element of this fact-inspired but overwrought thriller." Roger Ebert, in his Chicago Sun-Times review, calls The Negotiator "a triumph of style over story, and of acting over characters...Much of the movie simply consists of closeups of the two of them talking, but it's not simply dialogue because the actors make it more—invest it with conviction and urgency..."

Mick LaSalle, in his less-than-enthusiastic review for the San Francisco Chronicle, had the most praise for Spacey's performance: "Kevin Spacey is the main reason to see The Negotiator...Spacey's special gift is his ability to make sanity look radiant...In The Negotiator, as in L.A. Confidential, he gives us a man uniquely able to accept, face and deal with the truth."

Accolades

Award	Category	Subject	Result
Saturn Award	Best Action or Adventure Film	David Hoberman & Arnon Milchan	Nominated
American Black Film Festival	Black Film Award for Best Film		Won
	Black Film Award for Best Director	F. Gary Gray	Won
	Black Film Award for Best Actor	Samuel L. Jackson	Nominated
Blockbuster Entertainment Award	Favorite Actor - Action/Adventure		Nominated
NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture		Nominated

Adaptation

The film was remade into Crisis Negotiators, a 2024 Hong Kong film directed by Herman Yau and produced by Andy Lau, starring Sean Lau and Francis Ng in the lead roles, who played the counterparts of Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey's characters respectively.

External links

• The Negotiator at IMDb
• The Negotiator at the TCM Movie Database
• The Negotiator at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Negotiator at Metacritic
• The Negotiator at Box Office Mojo