Narrow Margin

Starring: Anne Archer, Gene Hackman Director: Peter Hyams Dvd Release: 10th November, 1998 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen, Region 0 Encoding Subtitled In: Spanish

Article Index: [Background Info] [DVD Review] [Biographies] [Articles/Resources] [Link To This Article] Looking To Buy? Buy This DVD Here

Narrow Margin is one of those small time films which gives so much more than its more well publicised & better known stable mates, but yet because of silly issues doesnt quite fulfil its true potential.

The story idea is thrilling just in itself. Witness to a mob murder, Carol Honnicut played by Anne Archer is forced to flee for her life before she can possibly testify. She is tracked down by grizzled deputy D.A. Robert Caufield , but at the same time because of a mystery mole in the D.A.s office the mob & various henchmen are also on the trail of Ms Honnicut. Forced to take refuge on a passing train travelling through the Canadian Rockies, the question is will the pursuing bad guys find Caufield & Honnicut before these two make it to safety.

Hackman is great in this sort of film. He manages to find the right balance between being a all-action hero & a sensitive father figure & yet still use all the tricks in the book to increase the tension levels at every opportunity. The rest of the cast support ably well although none of them, including Archer, really have enough of the action to make a great impression. Mentions to James Sikking as the lead henchman for a pretty good sinister performance though. ** Possible Spoilers**

Where the film lets itself down though is the numerous occasions where the right course of action is blindingly obvious yet the main leads go bumbling down the wrong path, leading themselves into more danger. Caufield, creeping around the buffet car, trying not to let anyone notice him, meets a pretty woman & within seconds has told her his name! Using the toy gun as a decoy he disarms one of the baddies, Ha Ha! Toy Gun! he gleefully crows until the baddie gives him a good whack! Honnicut puts on a pregnant act in order to get the last private carriage on the train, & then runs out of the ticket office in full view of everyone, including the kindly elderly couple who have given up their tickets with no further pretence at the act! There are plenty more occasions for more of this type of poor screenplay & with a bit of attention to detail this could have been a real gem of a film.

I wont be too hard on the film though. Its still great fun & still gets you gasping at all the right points & hey guess what? Its a train film & the goodie & the baddie end up rolling around on the roof! Now theres a surprise!

Anne Archer is an American movie & TV actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were actors; this influenced her strongly as a child. She studied theater arts & succeeded in getting a role opposite Jon Voight in the 1970 movie The All-American Boy. This film & the following she made did not give her the recognition she sought. Her off-Broadway performance in 1981 helped her finally to get roles in the right movies to become a respected actress. One of the outstanding films she played in was the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction, in which she had the part of Michael Douglas wife. Her interpretation earned her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. In 1992, she won another Oscar® for her performance in Patriot Games opposite Harrison Ford. Probably best remembered for her roles in the movies Fatal Attraction, Patriot Games & Narrow Margin, the last co-starring Gene Hackman, Archer cites her performances in Mojave Moon & Dark Summer as the ones she is currently most proud of.

Editors Choice: Patriot Games, Narrow Margin, Good Guys Wear Black, Green Ice, Adrian Lyne, View DVDology

Gene Hackman is an American actor. He was born in San Bernardino, California. His parents divorced while he was a child & he therefore moved from one place to another until he settled finally in Illinois, where he lived with his grandmother. At 16 he left home to join the Marines, where he served 3 years as a radio operator. Having finished his service, he moved to New York, where he worked in several minor jobs. He then studied television production & journalism at the University of Illinois, taking advantage of the G,I. Bill. Already over 30 years old, Hackman decided to become an actor & joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Some times later, he moved back to New York, where he started to perform in several off-Broadway plays. Finally, in 1964, he had the offer to play on Broadway, which opened the doors to the movies. His first role was in Lilith, with Warren Beatty in the leading role. Another secondary role in a 1967 Warren Beatty movie, Bonnie & Clyde, earned him an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Posters Of Runaway Jury

Editors Choice: Runaway Jury, Welcome To Mooseport, Behind Enemy Lines, The Royal Tenenbaums, Heist, Under Suspicion, Enemy Of The State, The Replacements, View DVDology

Peter Hyams is an American film director. Born in New York, N,Y. Hyams was the son of a Broadway publicist & grandson of Sol Hurk, the Russian impresario. His early career began at the age of 21 as a newsman with CBS in New York, for whom he later worked as a war correspondent covering the Vietnam war. He had a spell as a news anchorman for a Chicago TV station. He describes himself as one of the very few, if not only, writer/directors of major films who also shoots his own pictures. During his time with CBS, Hyams began to shoot documentary films. He moved to Los Angeles in 1970, selling his first screenplay to Paramount. His first excursion into space was Capricorn One & made his maiden voyage to Jupiter with the movie Outland. The Year We Make Contact, collaborating closely with author Arthur C Odyssey Two upon which the film is based. Posters Of The Musketeer

Editors Choice: The Musketeer, End Of Days, The Relic, Sudden Death, Timecop, Narrow Margin, The Presidio, Outland, View DVDology

©2004-2008 DVDArk.co.uk