# In the Line of Fire
*In the Line of Fire* is a 1993 American political thriller directed by [Wolfgang Petersen](https://www.edgepedia.org/wolfgang-petersen), starring [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood) as a veteran Secret Service agent haunted by his failure to protect President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, and [John Malkovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-malkovich) as the ex-CIA assassin who threatens the current president.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) The film paired the two leads in a cat-and-mouse confrontation, used the United States Secret Service as a dramatic backdrop rarely explored by Hollywood productions at the time, and grossed over $100 million in the United States.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire) • [3](https://www.clinteastwood.net/filmography/intheline/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 9, 1993, wide theatrical release; R rating; 123 minutes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) |
| Director / writer | Wolfgang Petersen; screenplay by Jeff Maguire[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) |
| Cast | Clint Eastwood (Frank Horrigan), John Malkovich (Mitch Leary), Rene Russo (Lilly Raines), Dylan McDermott (Al D'Andrea)[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-line-of-fire) |
| Box office | $102.2M gross in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) |
| Critical reception | 96% Tomatometer from 73 reviews; Metacritic score of 74, based on 16 critic reviews[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/in-the-line-of-fire/) |
| Awards | Malkovich received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination; Jeff Maguire's screenplay was also Oscar-nominated[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire) |
| Production | Principal photography began October 3, 1992; shot in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) was assigned to [Dealey Plaza](https://www.edgepedia.org/dealey-plaza) on November 22, 1963, and remains the last active agent from the only detail ever to lose a president.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire) Thirty years later, while investigating a suspicious apartment, he and his younger partner Al D'Andrea ([Dylan McDermott](https://www.edgepedia.org/dylan-mcdermott)) find a shrine to the JFK assassination.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire) Its tenant, calling himself "Booth" after [John Wilkes Booth](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-wilkes-booth), phones Horrigan to announce his intent to kill the current president during his re-election campaign.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire)
The caller is Mitch Leary (John Malkovich), a former CIA assassin who taunts Horrigan with detailed knowledge of his career and his failure in Dallas.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) Horrigan persuades his agency director ([John Mahoney](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-mahoney)) to transfer him to the presidential detail, while the White House chief of staff (Fred Dalton Thompson) prioritizes the president's poll standing over security recommendations.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire) Horrigan works the case alongside field agent Lilly Raines ([Rene Russo](https://www.edgepedia.org/rene-russo)) as Leary lays groundwork with multiple disguises to reach shooting distance of the president.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire) The pursuit builds to a climax in which Horrigan seeks redemption by saving the president's life, even at the cost of his own.[7](https://tubitv.com/movies/688929/in-the-line-of-fire)
## Production history
**Origins with Jeff Apple.** Producer Jeff Apple, a former student of director Martin Scorsese at New York University in the early 1970s, conceived the project after attending a 1964 motorcade for President Lyndon B. Johnson in Florida as a fifteen-year-old and being struck by the Secret Service agents' presence.[8](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59560) Apple hired his NYU classmate Ken Friedman to write a script about Secret Service personnel, and in December 1983 his company, Apple/Rose Productions, acquired independent financing from Connecticut-based private investors to develop the still-unfinished script.[8](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59560)
The project then went through a decade of development. Director [Michael Apted](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-apted) was interested early on but requested revisions.[8](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59560) [Dustin Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dustin-hoffman) contracted to play the starring role, and his association with [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) helped secure a production deal there; when David Puttnam became the studio's chairman several weeks after the contract was signed, Hoffman pulled out because of reported conflict with Puttnam.[8](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59560) Hoffman later arranged for Warner Bros. to produce the film, but by then had lost interest.[8](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59560)
**Eastwood's involvement.** Clint Eastwood signed to star only days after [Castle Rock Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/castle-rock-entertainment) solidified its deal, with final approval over the director choice.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE) He chose Wolfgang Petersen because he had seen and liked Petersen's *Das Boot* and *Shattered*, and wanted a European perspective on the Secret Service.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-04-ca-10147-story.html) Castle Rock approached [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema) for financing, but New Line declined to support a budget of approximately $40 million; Castle Rock then negotiated with Columbia Pictures, which had bid aggressively for the script earlier.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began October 3, 1992, on a 60-65 day shooting schedule, with locations in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE) Because the filmmakers had the Secret Service's cooperation, they were allowed to shoot at real rallies during the 1992 presidential campaign, capturing footage Petersen described as a stroke of luck.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-04-ca-10147-story.html) Eastwood performed his own stunts during the rooftop chase sequence, hanging from a building's sixth-story ledge with only a harness and wire for protection; [Vincent D'Onofrio](https://www.edgepedia.org/vincent-donofrio) was initially announced for the villain role before it went to Malkovich.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE) • [3](https://www.clinteastwood.net/filmography/intheline/)
## Reception and significance
**Critical response.** The film received generally favorable reviews. Rotten Tomatoes records a 96% Tomatometer based on 73 reviews, with a critics' consensus calling it "a straightforward thriller of the highest order" benefiting from Petersen's direction and the performances of Eastwood and Malkovich.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire) Metacritic gave it a score of 74 based on 16 reviews.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/in-the-line-of-fire/) Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* called it "movie making of the high, smooth, commercial order that Hollywood prides itself on but achieves with singular infrequency."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/in-the-line-of-fire/) Roger Ebert praised Petersen's ability to "unwind the plot like clockwork" while keeping the characters "surprisingly sympathetic."[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-the-line-of-fire-1993)
Malkovich's performance drew particular attention; the Turner Classic Movies profile calls Leary "one of the most chilling screen villains of recent memory" and calls his cat-and-mouse conversations with Eastwood "absolutely riveting."[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire)
**Effect on Wolfgang Petersen.** After his first two American features, *Enemy Mine* (1985) and *Shattered* (1990), made little commercial impact, Eastwood's request for Petersen on this hit thriller restored his Hollywood standing.[11](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/464290/1/771865.pdf) The film elevated Petersen to A-list Hollywood director status, after which he directed *Outbreak* (1995) and *Air Force One* (1997), consolidating his reputation as a maker of mainstream action thrillers.[11](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/464290/1/771865.pdf)
**Themes.** The film treats the Kennedy assassination not as a mystery to be solved but as a personal failure of duty Horrigan must atone for; when taunted about Dallas, he replies "What's done is done."[12](https://cinema.wisc.edu/2023/11/06/line-fire-and-shadow-jfk-assassination/) Petersen framed the story as an examination of heroes and villains, noting that Malkovich's character has comprehensible grievances even while doing reprehensible things.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-04-ca-10147-story.html)
## References
1. [In the Line of Fire – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_line_of_fire)
2. [In the Line of Fire – Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/31263/in-the-line-of-fire)
3. [In the Line of Fire (1993) – ClintEastwood.net](https://www.clinteastwood.net/filmography/intheline/)
4. [In the Line of Fire streaming – JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-line-of-fire)
5. [In the Line of Fire Reviews – Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/in-the-line-of-fire/)
6. [In the Line of Fire – AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59560-IN-THE-LINE-OF-FIRE)
7. [In the Line of Fire (1993) – Tubi](https://tubitv.com/movies/688929/in-the-line-of-fire)
8. [In the Line of Fire – AFI Catalog history section](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59560)
9. [Corruption, Heroism and America – Los Angeles Times (July 4, 1993)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-04-ca-10147-story.html)
10. [In The Line Of Fire movie review – RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-the-line-of-fire-1993)
11. [Wolfgang Petersen academic study – University of Southampton eprints](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/464290/1/771865.pdf)
12. [In the Line of Fire and In the Shadow of the JFK Assassination – UW-Madison Cinematheque](https://cinema.wisc.edu/2023/11/06/line-fire-and-shadow-jfk-assassination/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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