In Her Line of Fire

It should come as no surprise that I had never actually heard about this 2006 movie titled "In Her Line of Fire". I mean, an action thriller with Mariel Hemingway and David Keith in the leading roles wasn't exactly an equation that I would assume to be a fabulous result.

However, as I happened to stumble upon the movie by random chance here in 2024, of course I opted to sit down and watch it, on account of it being a movie that I have never seen before. And I do believe in giving a movie a fair chance.

I didn't know what to expect from writers Paula Goldberg and Anna Lorenzo, so they had every opportunity to entertain me with this movie. However, truth be told, then I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the movie.

The script and storyline in "In Her Line of Fire" was actually okay. It wasn't exactly rocket science here, not was it a particularly complex storyline. But I will say that writers Paula Goldberg and Anna Lorenzo put together a fair enough script and storyline, making this a movie that is watchable a single time.

While I was actually only familiar with Mariel Hemingway, David Keith and Jill Bennett on the cast list, I will say that the acting performances from everyone on the cast list were fair. The actors and actresses took a somewhat simplistic script and made it work. I actually never associated actress Mariel Hemingway with action movies before watching this movie.

"In Her Line of Fire" wasn't an overly memorable movie, though it was suitable for a single viewing. I can, however, in all honesty say that I am not returning to watch "In Her Line of Fire" a second time.

My rating of director Brian Trenchard-Smith's 2006 movie "In Her Line of Fire" lands on a four out of ten stars.

The fact someone even wanted to do a female type Rambo movie with a lesbian character makes me give them kudos for trying.

With a little tweaking, this could have been a pretty good film.

It is sadly lacking in the lesbian department - all we get are a couple of kisses, that's it.

The rest of it is non-stop jungle action.

The heroine, played by Mariel Hemingway, who unfortunately is a bit past her prime, hangs tough and kicks major butt, as well as knowing how to handle a gun.

Jill Bennett is her love interest, and she's attractive and brave, although of course she's not allowed to be quite as brave as Mariel's character.

If only the writers had realized you need some breaks in all that action, at least a few minutes where maybe one woman bandages up the other gal's flesh wound, and then they strip off and go for a nude swim in a jungle pool, and do some making out--it could have gone all the way up to an 8 or 9 star film for me.

The plot, such as it is, concerns the plane the Vice President is on going down in a storm near an island where some mercenaries and rebels have their training camp.

Reality goes out the window from the get-go, because the Vice President has one bodyguard, Mariel Hemingway. She may be as tough as a battalion of Marines, but people like Vice Presidents always have dozens of secret service people with them everywhere they go.

They're still struggling ashore when they come under attack by the militant operation on the island, after that it's just action, action, and still more action.

I gave it 6 stars out of 10. I suppose it didn't deserve it, but positive lesbian films come along so rarely, I like to encourage them.

Since I don't have cable & there ain't any good shows on Wed., I was watching Telefutura. I learned from watchin' the opening the movie was called "Air Force Two," which I seriously doubt was a sequel to the Harrison Ford film. Only as I found the film's page here on IMDb have I learned that Mariel Hemingway was playing a lesbian. When I was watching the movie, I wouldn't notice it as it just appeared to be another shoot-'em-up, mindless action film w/ Spanish dubbing. & yep, once I also found out that those reviewing this movie were Austrians, I must've been the only non-Hispanic American watching it. & I also thought this movie was made in the 80s/90s, not 2006! R U kiddin'? A movie where the bad guys are jungle insurgents a la Iran-Contra/ Sandinistas/ Manuel Noriega? & made while the War on Terrorism's in progress? Well, that could explain why "In Her Line of Fire" didn't come to a theater near me or other Americans. The film was such a blatant throwback to those "Rambo" or "Die Hard" flics. Even if this film is available here in the U.S., I ain't sure if I can find it in the "bargain bin" at Costco or Target. Besides, this is the type of film that Telefutura would air on a Wednesday, as opposed to a Sunday night, which would draw more viewers. That's why I saw more promos for "Spider-Man 2" when it was on Telefutura on that Sunday night. This is for sure a film you will likely stumble upon when nothing good's on TV, & not a movie you "prepare" for by w8n' for it 2 start, watch it w/ others & have a snack.

Hemingway does well as the tough no nonsense secret service agent. David Keith also does well in his roll of Vice President with a military background. Last, but not least Jill Bennett does a great job in her role of a civilian reporter caught up in a dangerous situation. The three of them work very well together and have great chemistry on set.

It is, however, disappointing that I could not find the original version of the movie that included a few kisses between the two women. Throughout the movie, the sexual tension between Hemingway's and Bennett's characters is alluded to which, is progressive but, the fact that they chose to censor and remove the actual kiss scenes is extremely disappointing.

Overall the movie was entertaining and had a lot of action. It's a movie I wouldn't mind seeing again. However, the censorship of the movie keeps me from giving it a higher score.

Why the plane crashed in the first place is uncertain, when the plane crossed over the island it's engines where running and the pilot had both elevator and aileron control judging by the way it maneuvered around obstacles on the island. The crash was of course necessary to set-up the main plot of the movie. This is a pretty standard action flick except the main Rambo type hero character is female. Like most movies of this genre the hero's seem to be immune to pain or serious physical injury even when they jump out of a moving jeep and slide down the side of a cliff, apart from the occasional cut or scratch. The hero's never miss a shot while the villains can take out a sundry character with a single shot, but can't seem to hit the hero's even when there are several of them using machine guns. If you like action flicks it is quite entertaining, but like most of this type of movie one is not expected to take them seriously. I must admit I was a little surprised by MagicStarfire's review and his obsession with lesbian sexuality, I was not sure we had watched the same movie. I saw Mariel Hemingway's character as a well-trained ex-marine as capable, tough and resourceful as any, regardless of gender. I have never subscribed to the belief that unless a woman is weak and helpless she must be a lesbian. The tension between the to female character's I saw as territorial in that the reporter was encroaching on her relationship with the Vice-president. However I guess one sees what one wants to see. As to the suggestion that it should have had a sex scene I feel that given the time frame the events are supposed to have occurred, the plot scenario and the pace of the film any sex scene regardless of sexual orientation would have been inappropriate, Evan if MagicStarfire would have given more points. PS:- with apology to MagicStarfire it appears that we were not watching quite the same movie in the Australian release for some reason all references to Mariel Hemingway's characters sexuality has been edited out so the character comes across as a strong resourceful woman and in the context of the plot (such as it is) the characters sexual orientation is irrelevant, there is no reason why a strong resourceful woman has to be a lesbian.

Goofs In the opening scene's in the aircraft despite the apparent turbulence affecting the passengers the cards and glasses did not slide around on the polished wood table, although the liquid in the glasses did slop around slightly.

Incorrect procedure

When the six passengers put on their life jackets they all inflated them immediately. If you inflate the life jacket before you leave the plane it will pin you to the ceiling with the rising water making it extremely difficult if not imposable to get out.

When the plane crashes into the sea with enough force to rip the engines from the wings, the cards still do not slide off the table, even as the water rushes in the cards are still there.