The Negotiator (1998)

May 29, 2026

This week, Shat The Movies heads to Chicago for The Negotiator, the 1998 hostage thriller that asks a simple question: What happens when the best hostage negotiator in the city takes hostages of his own?

Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in a battle of wits, the film turns a police corruption investigation into a tense, talk-heavy showdown filled with double-crosses, suspicious cops, and enough flashbangs to outfit a small army.

Gene and Big D revisit a late-’90s thriller that feels like a mashup of Die Hard, The Fugitive, and a Chicago tourism commercial gone horribly wrong. The guys debate whether Danny Roman’s plan is brilliant or completely insane, marvel at the film’s stacked supporting cast, and discuss why every Chicago movie seems to feature cops making catastrophically bad decisions.

Along the way, they break down David Morse’s hard-nosed performance, the film’s escalating paranoia, and the rare action movie that wins battles with conversation instead of gunfire.

Is The Negotiator an underrated thriller from the golden age of adult action movies, or a wildly implausible conspiracy held together by charisma, shouting, and Samuel L. Jackson’s ability to dominate every room he’s in?

Full movie info below

When a respected Chicago police hostage negotiator is framed for corruption and murder, he seizes a government office and takes hostages in a desperate attempt to uncover the real conspiracy. With the city closing in, he turns to another elite negotiator to help expose the truth before time runs out.

Subscribe Now