Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Narrow Margin (1990)

Director: Peter Hyams

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

A remake of Richard Fleischer's superb 1952 train thriller must be artistically redundant. But Hyams has always had a magpie tendency to borrow from the best, daring to make a sequel to 2001, remaking High Noon as Outland, even fitting his original screenplays (Capricorn One, Running Scared) into prevailing cycles. Given this reliance on proven formula, Hyams is an ingenious craftsman who makes supremely watchable movies, and this one is a case in point. District Attorney Hackman is escorting a reluctant witness (Archer) to testify in a murder trial, but assassins are on the same train to make sure she doesn't. Hyams boosts the set-up with some heavy-duty action, but the journey follows essentially the same tracks as in '52 for an exciting ride. Hackman is boringly good, but Archer (like Marie Windsor before her) enjoys the more ambivalent role. Very good indeed, she offers sufficient reason to check out this update, even if it does run out of steam before the end of the line.

Author: TCh 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Peter Hyams

Producer: Jonathan A Zimbert

Cast: Gene Hackman, Anne Archer, James B Sikking, JT Walsh, M Emmet Walsh, Susan Hogan, Harris Yulin, Nigel Bennett, BA 'Smitty' Smith full cast

Genre(s): Thrillers

Duration: 97 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.