The Negotiator is a 1998 drama-thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. It takes place in Chicago and was released on July 29, 1998. The original music score was composed by Graeme Revell. This is Warner Bros.'s last film produced with Regency Enterprises until The Fountain.
Lieutenant Danny Roman (Jackson) is a top police hostage negotiator. When he cannot talk a hostage-taker into surrendering, he offers himself as an additional hostage and lures the subject into a position where he can be taken down with the minimum use of force, rather than an all-out assault. He has a deserved reputation for being the best, although he is not without his detractors, such as Beck (David Morse), who thinks Roman takes too many chances.
Roman is middle-aged and recently married. While celebrating his most recent success, he is approached by his colleague Nathan 'Nate' Roenick (Paul Guilfoyle) who warns him that large sums of money are being embezzled from the Chicago Police Department's disability fund, whose board Roman is on. Roenick has an informant, with whom he was at the Police Academy and with whom he served for a while, but Roenick refuses to name him. Roman suggests he goes to Internal Affairs, but Nate thinks an Inspector Niebaum might be involved as well. Later that evening, Roman is summoned via his pager for another meeting with Roenick but instead finds him dead by gunshot wounds.
The case goes badly for Roman when it is assigned to Niebaum (J. T. Walsh) of the Internal affairs law enforcement (IAD), which Roenick claimed was involved in the embezzlement. Furthermore, the gun used to kill Roenick was one of three involved in a case Roman handled in the past: two were recovered but not the third. A search warrant uncovered documents in Roman's house that indicate the embezzled funds had been deposited to an offshore account, of which Roman denies any knowledge.
Facing serious charges, suspended from the force and rejected by his friends and colleagues, including Roenick's widow, a frustrated Roman storms into Niebaum's office and, in the ensuing chaos, takes Niebaum and several others hostage, including Niebaum's administrative assistant Maggie (Siobhan Fallon), police commander Grant Frost (Ron Rifkin), and two-bit con man Rudy Timmons (Paul Giamatti).
With the building evacuated and placed under siege by police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Roman issues his conditions, which include finding Roenick's informant and summoning police Lieutenant Chris Sabian (Spacey), another top negotiator. Sabian, who has been trying rather unsuccessfully to negotiate peace between his sulking wife (Mary Page Keller) and cheeky daughter (Mulrooney), arrives on the scene. Roman and Sabian have only met once, briefly and know each other through reputation, but Roman wants Sabian because he is from another side of the city, unconnected to the pension fund matter, and should be one of the few people Roman can trust.
Sabian soon finds himself in a cat and mouse duel with Roman and a dispute over authority between him, the local cops, and the feds, who disagree over jurisdiction and tactics. Roman of course knows every trick in the book, and the besiegers are hard pressed to find out what is going on in the room with the hostages, since he blocks the entrances to the ventilation units and destroys the security cameras and other surveillance devices. To make things more complicated, Roman is convinced that "they" (his former colleagues) are out to kill him and it is hard for others (and viewers) to discern whether Roman's belief is based on well-founded suspicions or groundless paranoia.
While Sabian tries to come up with a solution, Roman, with the help of Timmons and Maggie, gets into Niebaum's computer and discovers recordings of wiretaps, including his last conversation with Roenick. He discovers that Roenick himself was the actual informant and had passed his evidence on to the IAD. Niebaum admits that he investigated the embezzlement, but then took bribes from the fraudsters. Niebaum implicates many of Roman's squadmates in the conspiracy, but does not know who the ring leader is. Before he can reveal where he has hidden the evidence, Roman's squadmates (who overheard his confession) prematurely attack and kill Niebaum.
When it becomes apparent that Sabian and the police have lost control of the situation, the FBI relieve Sabian and orders a full-on assault. Sabian runs into the building to try to save Roman and the hostages. Roman and Sabian argue over who fired first and struggle over a weapon, only to have Roman show Sabian that the S.W.A.T team member, Scott, was not really shot. Another bluff to make everyone believe Roman could kill all the hostages. Sabian has come to believe Roman has a case and gives him a chance to prove his innocence. Prior to the impending FBI S.W.A.T. attack, and he and Roman devise a plan. Roman is able to sneak out of the building during the assault by wearing a confiscated SWAT uniform. They proceed to Niebaum's house, where they try to find the evidence, but are then attacked by Frost, one of the former hostages, and three other members of Roman's old squad who reveal themselves as the fraudsters and Roenick's killers.
In the course of the confrontation, Sabian suddenly shoots Roman and tells Frost that he just killed Roman, a cop, so he (Sabian) is now a dirty cop and then offers to destroy the evidence in return for a share of the pie. Frost agrees and effectively makes a full admission to his crimes, but when he leaves the house, he finds the whole area surrounded by police who have overheard his confession via Sabian's radio that Roman had. Sabian had bluffed that he had killed Roman while Roman had actually broadcasted Sabian's and Frost's conversation. Humiliated, Frost attempts to shoot himself, but Beck quickly shoots his arm and the police seize him. Roman is now cleared.
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