Award Winner Gene Hackman Rocks in 'Narrow Margin' - Commentary & Trailer - Comment, Actor J.T. Walsh

Award winning actor, Gene Hackman, really rocks in the film, 'Narrow Margin', and this is an exciting movie which offers what you might call lots of 'bang for your buck'!

Great lead actor and good supporting cast

What can you say about an award winning actor who is so good at his craft he is a legend in his own time? Actor Gene Hackman always brings a practical looking kind of reality to the screen whether he's portraying a dedicated obsessed cop, (The French Connection) or a former C.I.A. operative (Enemy of the State), or a military officer under fire behind enemy lines (Bat 21), or an investigative agent (Mississippi Burning). Even his role as a wiretapping expert is an interesting experience to see in 'The Conversation'. Here, in 'Narrow Margin', he portrays Assistant District Attorney Caulfield who must get his witness, portrayed by Anne Archer, to testify at trial against a major underworld figure. The resulting ride this plot takes is wild, indeed, and is packed with action scene after scene.

J.T. Walsh

In addition to lovely Anne Archer as the supporting lead role, there is a very notable, sometimes villain actor, J.T. Walsh in the story. Talented actor, J.T. Walsh, who appeared as trucker Red Barr in Kurt Russell's excellent film, 'Breakdown' has that rare ability here to project a villainous, somewhat off-pudding kind of appearance and emotion. J.T. could appear as a crook who boldly assumed an honest guy look, or he could appear to have the 'cat that ate the canary' look of guilt written all over his face, but right away the viewer can sense the rather 'off-pudding' feeling that something's going on.

Sadly, Mr. Walsh passed on in February of 1998, aged 54, a rare talent that is certainly gone too soon. As a filmviewer this editor feels somewhat fortunate to have Mr. Walsh's performance here captured on film. Mr. Walsh also appeared in:
Good Morning, Vietnam, Wired, Misery, The Grifters, True Identity, Backdraft, A Few Good Men, Hoffa, Outbreak, Pleasantville, The X Files, Dark Skies, Sling Blade, Tequila Sunrise and other good films.

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Exciting non-stop storyline

Something which definitely has real dramatic effect is the disturbing, modern-day phenomenon of prospective witnesses risking death to testify against major V.I.P.s, corporations, etc. at courtroom trial proceedings. This illustrates situations where 'hit-men' are assigned to kill or eliminate prospective witnesses designated to testify in court against some person or corporation, etc.- the guilty party or accused parties wish to avoid the prison terms and/or fines, or lawsuits, countersuits which might award the victim(s) lots of "dough, big dough" as Bogey would say.

Excellent stunt work by stuntman crews

There are some hair-raising scenes by the stuntmen, especially on the exterior of the train, which are sure to bring any audience to the edge of their chairs. Along with the clever use of the train tunnels these stunts were performed with the train in full motion.

Panoramic colorful scenery

This film was shot in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. so, viewers who sometimes feel like the four walls are closing in might enjoy a refreshing experience to view the mountains in the helicopter scenes and the trees and countryside in the train scenes which are filmed in beautiful TECHNICOLOR.

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Overall, with an excellent cast, good exciting storyline, exciting stunt work, and beautiful panoramic colorful settings, this film offers a lot of what you might call 'bang for your buck'. Rated R this editor noticed no nudity, but it does have a bit of strong language and some violence.

Sountrack - the good thing about Bruce Broughton's music in this soundtrack is that it's a case of 'less is more' - that is to say it's there in a haunting way to make the viewer wonder and think, but it does not overshadow the viewing experience with excessive amounts of loud, sudden scores.

There are some good bargains on this and other DVD's at online outlets. Happy viewing!

Infoeditor

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Rated R - Restricted

Dolby

Available on DVD

DVD - Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1, DVD screen format

Run Time: approximately 99 minutes

Actors: Gene Hackman, Anne Archer, James B. Sikking, J.T. Walsh, Susan Hogan, Nigel Bennett, J.A. Preston, M. Emmet Walsh.

Directed by: Written for the screen and directed by Peter Hyamis

Music by: Bruce Broughton

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Narrow Margin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow_Margin

File:Narrow Margin 1990 Poster.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Narrow_Margin_1990_Poster.jpg

Gene Hackman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman

Anne Archer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Archer

J. T. Walsh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Walsh

J.T. Walsh photo
File:J.T. Walsh.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:J.T._Walsh.jpg

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