X
- 1990
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 37 m
- 1990
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 37 m
Summary A Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney is sent to protect a woman who accidentally witnessed a Mafia murder.
Directed By: Peter Hyams
Written By: Earl Felton, Martin Goldsmith, Jack Leonard, Peter Hyams
- 1990
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 37 m
- 1990
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 37 m
Narrow Margin
53
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary A Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney is sent to protect a woman who accidentally witnessed a Mafia murder.
Directed By: Peter Hyams
Written By: Earl Felton, Martin Goldsmith, Jack Leonard, Peter Hyams
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
53
48% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
48% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
53
48% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
48% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Narrow Margin cares more about characters than pyrotechnics or double-digit body counts. Its emphasis is on relationships, dramatic situations and settings, and how these combine to create a deeply satisfying yarn. [21 Sep 1990, p.6]
The dialogue sounds irritatingly tough-clever, the premise is elaborately contrived, and the pacing is best described by the term "commercial-ready." But Narrow Margin has one element that lifts it above the all-too-obvious limitations of the material. That element is Gene Hackman. [21 Sep 1990, p.8]
This little melodrama is nicely put together and thoroughly entertaining. Plus, the scenery's great. Remember when that was enough? [26 Sep 1990, p.D3]
To his credit, writer-cinematographer-director Peter Hyams (RUNNING SCARED) doesn't pretend he's reinventing the wheel here--he just sees to it that all the pieces are in place and that there aren't too many opportunities for the premise to trip over its own implausibilities.
Narrow Margin isn't awful. It's solid and adult, but plodding and dull, rather like a living room filled with the last generation's furniture - not old enough to be considered an interesting antique, yet fundamentally out of touch with the present. It's too reasonable for its own good. [21 Sep 1990, p.44p]
Though the story evokes old movie formulas - from Strangers on a Train to the 1952 film The Narrow Margin, which inspired it - this film does not reinvent them. It dully echos their conventions.
Narrow Margin is a clumsy version of the Idiot Plot, dressed up as a high-gloss chase thriller. The Idiot Plot, of course, is any plot that would be resolved in five minutes if everyone in the story were not an idiot. And rarely has there been a film in which more idiots make more mistakes than in this one.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 User Ratings
7.4
80% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 User Ratings
7.4
80% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
