The Negotiator

F Gary Gray's action-thriller starring Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey. When police hostage negotiator Danny Roman unwittingly gets involved in a colleague's attempt to expose financial fraud within the force he quickly finds himself in very deep water. With the colleague found shot dead, and the embezzlement being pinned on him, Roman snaps and takes a surprising course of action: he turns his police role on its head and - in an effort to buy himself time to prove his innocence - takes hostage a number of people in the Internal Affairs Department, including his chief accuser Terence Niebaum. Roman's next step is to demand the presence of Chris Sabian, a fellow hostage negotiator who works on the other side of the city, and so, Roman hopes, is unconnected to the plot to frame him. But can such a reckless strategy have any chance of paying off?, (1998) F Gary Gray's action-thriller starring Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey. When police hostage negotiator Danny Roman (Jackson) unwittingly gets involved in a colleague's attempt to expose financial fraud within the force, he quickly finds himself in very deep water. With the colleague found shot dead, and the embezzlement being pinned on him, Roman snaps and takes a surprising course of action: he turns his police role on its head and - in an effort to buy himself time to prove his innocence - takes hostage a number of people in the Internal Affairs Department, including his chief accuser Terence Niebaum (JT Walsh). Roman's next step is to demand the presence of Chris Sabian (Spacey), a fellow hostage negotiator who works on the other side of the city, and so, Roman hopes, is unconnected with the plot to frame him. But can such a reckless strategy have any chance of paying off? Also starring David Morse, Siobhan Fallon and Paul Giamatti. M,W,R.