Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #65 In The Line Of Fire

Chris Klemmer 3/24/2023 3:45 PM

Box Office: $102.3 Million Dollars

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (John Malkovitch), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing

Oscar Wins: None

MovieRankings.Net: 89/100

Available To Stream: Tubi, Amazon Prime ($4)

This was Clint Eastwood's first movie after he had won Best Picture for Unforgiven. In The Line Of Fire wound up being the second to last movie that Eastwood was in that he didn't direct (the other being Trouble With The Curve). This also marks the end of Eastwood being an action star. The movie makes constant references to his age but it's Clint Eastwood. You believe he could be a secret service agent. You believe he could save the president. You even believe that Rene Russo would sleep with him. Well, that part might be a stretch.

The only thing better than watching Eastwood have one last run shooting bad guys and going on rooftop chases is John Malkovitch as the assassin. He wound up with his second Academy Award nomination for his work here. I know I covered Being John Malkovitch (#86) already on this list but I would have bet a ton of money that he would not have been nominated again after this movie but surely would have eventually won one.

His path after this movie wasn't the best. He was Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde in Mary Reilly with Julia Roberts...but no one wanted to see America's Sweetheart in a role like that. He was great in Rounders but that's a movie that came out a decade too soon. He's worked steadily since the 2000's but he's gone for movies like Jonah Hex and Transformers and followed the money as opposed to the quality. I can't blame him for that but you watch how great he is here and it seems the second half of his career has been a missed opportunity.

Bruce McBroom. Getty Images.

This is directed by Wolfgang Petersen who was very hit or miss with his movies. He helmed good movies like this, The NeverEnding Story and The Perfect Storm. He's also directed the disappointing Outbreak and the awful Poseidon. He's at his best creating tension and allowing Eastwood and Malkovitch to dominate so much of the movie. This feels like a movie from the early 90's with the pacing at times and how it's shot but Peterson does a good job allowing us to care about these characters.

With most of the movies on this list so far, I would hope younger readers might give them a chance. I'm not sure about this one. I rewatched this for the blog and while I still enjoyed it quite a bit, it felt more dated than most. It had some of the paranoia you might see from a movies of the 70's and the action sequences that dominated the 80's and early 90's. But between the wild age difference between Eastwood and Russo along with a couple strange action sequences (like the one in the very beginning with Dylan McDermott), I wonder if any of that would resonate with a younger audience now?

65. In The Line Of Fire

66. My Cousin Vinny

67. Awakenings

68. JFK

69. Toy Story

70. Home Alone

71. Jerry Maguire

72. Titanic

73. Billy Madison

74. Apollo 13

75. Braveheart

76. Edward Scissorhands