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The Package (1989)

Director: Andrew Davis

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From Time Out Film Guide

Soviet intelligence has nasty plans for the American President. This time their plot is assisted by neo-Nazis who are none too happy with feelings of East-West accord, but they haven't reckoned on Sergeant Johnny Gallagher (Hackman), an army veteran at loggerheads with young(ish) Colonel Whitaker (Heard). A court-martialled serviceman (Jones) escapes from Gallagher's custody, and it transpires that the man had adopted a false identity. Gallagher gets his ex-wife (Cassidy), a personnel officer, to help his private investigation, which uncovers military and police corruption... The plot is reasonably entertaining, and Davis handles the action sequences well, but where the film transcends a lingering sense of déjà vu is in its intelligent performances: Hackman and Cassidy make a strong, unsentimental couple, hints of romance and reconciliation lurking beneath their businesslike exchanges. But this is hardly ground-breaking stuff, the main difference from earlier Red Threat thrillers being that the enemy is less clearly defined.

Author: CM 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Andrew Davis

Producer: Beverly J. Camhe, Tobie Haggerty

Cast: Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, Dennis Franz, Reni Santoni, Pam Grier, Chelcie Ross, Ron Dean, Kevin Crowley, Thalmus Rasulala full cast

Genre(s): Thrillers

Duration: 108 mins


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