Narrow Margin (1990)

This is a movie that either has not been seen or has not been given its due respect if it has.

Narrow Margin is a dandy updating of the Richard Fleischer classic film noir The Narrow Margin (1952) starring Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor.

For protagonists, we have the highly acclaimed thespians Gene Hackman and Anne Archer. Hackman (The French Connection), in my humble opinion, has too-often rested on his laurels, but in this case director Peter Hyams gets his money's worth and then some out of the veteran actor. Anne Archer, of course, was the wronged wife in Fatal Attraction, whose smoky good looks and pluck make her a perfect heroine for this fast-paced chase movie.

Like its film noir predecessor, both films rely on multiple coincidences to play out, so the idea that this could be real pretty much flies out the window. If that loses you as a viewer, I guess you'd never be interested in any sci-fi movies either. Nonetheless, the movie works because of Hackman's performance. He makes it believable, or at least allows you to suspend your disbelief without allowing reality to rear its ugly head.

Anne Archer witnesses a murder but is able to remain unseen. The murder is gang related and she realizes she will be next in line. Her secret hiding place, however, is known to about everybody in the country and both mafia and police are besieging her. Hackman, as Lost Angeles District Attorney, wants her to testify to put the scum away. The catch is, none of the bad guys know what she looks like so Hackman takes her on a TRAIN from the Canadian Rockies wilderness down to Vancouver, with the bad guys in hot pursuit. They know what Hackman looks like and he has to protect the woman and yet not lead the bad guys to her.

The movie is basically one action set-piece after another and only holds together because of Hackman's intense performance. The director, Peter Hyams, makes good use of the claustrophobic space on board the train with the camera close-ups punctuated by the thundering roar of the hurtling train, barreling through the wilderness. The movie holds together well until the final confrontation where a hurried ending lets the tension escape, making the movie less memorable than it should have been.

Apart from Gene Hackman and Anne Archer, the cast is populated with a number of good character actors, like M. Emmett Walsh, J. T. Walsh, James B. Sikking, and Harris Yulin. All these actors do a good job and will probably be familiar faces to most viewers; Yulin, especially familiar, was in the gripping Scarface 1983, opposite Al Pacino, and James B. Sikking was a familiar screen villain before his stint as the psycho SWAT officer on Hill Street Blues.

The Artisan DVD clocks in a 99 minutes, is presented in color and in 2.35:1 theatrical format. As usual with Artisan DVDs, there are no frills, and the only EXTRA is Spanish subtitles.

Narrow Margin will be a good choice for action fans.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening