History Film / TheNegotiator

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Niebaum isn't the mastermind Danny thought he was, but he's still a cowardly, corrupt SmugSnake, so it isn't a tragedy to see him go.]]

* InternalAffairs: Inspector Niebaum. The whole hostage situation takes place in the IA office.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: First Roenick, then Niebaum.

--> '''[[spoiler: Beck]]''': You're not getting off that easy, you son of a bitch.

* LivingLieDetector: Danny gives Niebaum a crash course in how "real cops" pick apart liars. He's rather disconcerted, however, when he flat out asks Niebaum who really did it, and Niebaum says "You did, Danny" and Danny can tell the guy honestly believes it.

* ColdNameMole: [[spoiler:The ringleader behind the whole stealing from the orphan fund scheme is Commander Grant Frost.]]

* PunkInTheTrunk: Used as a misdirection [[spoiler: with Danny and Chris Sabian escaping from the federal building, after Sabian agrees to help Danny and instructs him to follow. Sabian begins to drive away from the scene, having been relieved of duty, only to be stopped by a checkpoint to check if Danny is being smuggled out. They pop open the trunk and find nothing; Chris drives off and picks up Danny, who left the building on foot, several blocks down.]]

''The Negotiator'' is a 1998 film starring Creator/SamuelLJackson as Danny Roman, a UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Police Department hostage negotiator framed for the murder of his partner, Nate Roenick (Creator/PaulGuilfoyle). Nate was murdered when he uncovered serious corruption within their unit. Not knowing who he can trust, Danny turns to taking hostages to find the truth about Nate's murder. Unable to trust his friends, he calls upon a stranger, and fellow negotiator, Chris Sabian (Creator/KevinSpacey), to prove his innocence.

* WildCard: Chris Sabian. Because Danny doesn't know how far up the betrayal goes in the precinct, he needs a complete outsider in Sabian to come in and listen to Danny. However, as Chris makes clear to both Danny and the cops, as an outsider, he has no idea about who is really telling the truth, and his only concern are the hostages. He makes it plain to both sides to not make the mistake of thinking he's on "their side" just because he's on the scene.

* WildCard: Chris Sabian. Because Danny doesn't know how far up the betrayal goes in the precinct, he needs a complete outsider in Sabian to come in and listen to Danny. However, as Chris makes clear to both Danny and the cops, as an outsider, he has no idea about who really telling the truth, and his only concern are the hostages. He makes it plain to both sides to not make the mistake of thinking he's on "their side" just because he's on the scene.

* WrongfulAccusationInsurance: Danny takes hostages in a federal building just to start, but is let off the hook once the mastermind is revealed.

* PetTheDog: Beck get several in the finale. After being a RedHerring for the mastermind and a general jerkass throughout the movie he shoots [[spoiler:Frost]] to prevent him from committing suicide, helps an injured Danny to the waiting ambulance and orders the street cleared so Danny can be rushed to the hospital.

* EmptyCopThreat: After the hostages have been released Maggie initially gives Chief Travis the silent treatment when he asks where Danny has gone, but relents when he threatens to charge her with obstruction of justice.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: How Danny finally gets the man responsible.

* BatmanGambit: Done multiple times by Roman, and how they eventually uncover the mastermind setting him up. Sabian ultimately exposes the ringleader of the conspiracy with one.

* AirVentPassageway: The SWAT team uses small vents for running fiber-optic cameras and larger vents for team members. When the title character barricades himself into an office, one of the precautions he takes is to close off the vents as best he can with available materials. Danny also uses it during his escape from the building.

** Farley basically exists [[TheChewToy for no other reason than to get utterly humiliated by Danny]]. The first time his name is mentioned, long before he appears on-screen in any meaningful capacity, is when Danny complains that "Farley fucked up the list!" (Said list being a likes / dislikes inventory for the current hostage-taker - Farley put the man's dog on the "Likes" side, but the guy hates his dog for barking all the time.) He later on gets humiliated by Danny getting him to repeatedly say 'No'.

-->'''Chris Sabian''': You know, I once talked a man out of blowing up the Sears Tower, but I cannot talk my wife out of a bedroom or my kid off a phone.
-->'''Lisa Sabian:''' That's because nobody's standing behind you with a big gun!
-->'''Chris Sabian:''' Yeah well, That's debatable.

* FalseFlagOperation: Inverted and then subverted. Sabian gets a friend to pretend to be the mole to convince Danny to release the hostages and give himself up (and possibly reveal if there are conspirators in the police department). His plan is successful at first, as Sabian has gathered enough information from Danny to know some of the mole's characteristics. But ultimately his plan is foiled when Danny discovers from Niebaum's files who the real mole is.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The film actually Deconstructs the concept of the Framed Hero finding out who his "real" friends are when things hit the fan. When Danny is ordered to turn in his badge, he gives the standard "You know me better than this" line usually made in this situation, but later on Sabian (correctly) points out that belief in Danny's innocence or guilt in this situation is irrelevant, the cops are ''doing their jobs'' by following the evidence where it leads them (and trying to neutralize an angry man who has taken hostages). [[spoiler: Frost, who is the only one who is somewhat supportive of Danny throughout the whole mess - even suggesting to Travis and Beck that Danny "may actually believe he's innocent" - [[BitchInSheepsClothing is really]] [[BigBadFriend the villain who set him up in the first place]].]]
* IfIDoNotReturn: When things are going badly and Danny Roman believes that he will soon be killed by the corrupt cops, he asks Maggie for a favor.
-->Will you tell my wife something for me? Tell her I was trying to keep my promise.

* ProveIAmNotBluffing: Danny [[spoiler:invokes this trope when he fakes shooting one of the hostages.]]

* ShootTheHostage:
** Danny shooting one of the officers he was holding hostage. [[spoiler:Subverted - he faked it in order to get the police to take him seriously.]]
** [[spoiler: The conspirators silence Niebaum]].
** [[spoiler: Frost takes ''himself'' hostage by putting a gun to his own head, either in hopes of getting the SWAT team to back down or because he was trying to take the easy way out. Beck foils his plan, whichever it was, by shooting him in the shoulder.]]

* StockholmSyndrome[=/=]LimaSyndrome - Justified; the hostages come over to his side once they realize he's being set up, and he's apologetic about having to put them through it all to clear his name. Not completely, though; as much as [[spoiler:Maggie]] might have come sympathize with Danny, a reminder of the likely consequences of silence gets them to spill what they know.

* WrongfulAccusationInsurance

The film was directed by Felix Gary Gray, previously known for ''Film/{{Friday}}'' (1995) and ''Film/SetItOff'' (1996). It was not a box office hit, earning about $44,547,681 in the United States market. It was only the 47th most successful film of its year. However, it gained mostly positive reviews and earned both Gray and Jackson a number of awards.

* ButtMonkey: Farley basically exists [[TheChewToy for no other reason than to get utterly humiliated by Danny]]. The first time his name is mentioned, long before he appears on-screen in any meaningful capacity, is when Danny complains that "Farley fucked up the list!" (Said list being a likes / dislikes inventory for the current hostage-taker - Farley put the man's dog on the "Likes" side, but the guy hates his dog for barking all the time.) He later on gets humiliated by Danny getting him to repeatedly say 'No'.
** Also, Rudy, who is the hostage that Danny most frequently threatens to shoot

* FaceHeelTurn: Subverted when [[spoiler: Chris Sabian pretends to kill Danny Roman for a cut in the villains' profits.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Beck was a dick even ''before'' Danny was setup. This, plus his gung-ho attitude when the hostage crisis erupts, suggests he's involved in the conspiracy. [[spoiler:[[RedHerring He's not]].]]
** Niebaum is this too.

** '''I *AM* TALKING! NOW DID YOU OR DID YOU *NOT* EVER DRESS UP LIKE A SCHOOLGIRL AND GET YA ASS SPANKED?!'''
** '''YOU ARE *NOT* IN CONTROL! THEY ARE!'''

''The Negotiator'' is a 1998 film starring Creator/SamuelLJackson as Danny Roman, a UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Police Department hostage negotiator framed for the murder of his partner, Nate Roenick (Paul Guilfoyle). Nate was murdered when he uncovered serious corruption within their unit. Not knowing who he can trust, Danny turns to taking hostages to find the truth about Nate's murder. Unable to trust his friends, he calls upon a stranger, and fellow negotiator, Chris Sabian (Creator/KevinSpacey), to prove his innocence.

''The Negotiator'' is a 1998 film starring Creator/SamuelLJackson as Danny Roman, a UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Police Department hostage negotiator framed for the murder of his partner, Nate Roenick. Nate was murdered when he uncovered serious corruption within their unit. Not knowing who he can trust, Danny turns to taking hostages to find the truth about Nate's murder. Unable to trust his friends, he calls upon a stranger, and fellow negotiator, Chris Sabian (Creator/KevinSpacey), to prove his innocence.

'''Tropes list contains unmarked spoilers. Please repair if you have a moment.''

* OnlyAFleshWound: Played with. [[spoiler: What really sells Sabian's [[BluffingTheMurderer bluff]] towards Frost is that he shoots Danny in the abdomen. Danny is then shown lying on the floor with blood pooling from under him. Afterwards, Sabian helps Danny out of the house, and Danny is able to stand on his own briefly, although he needs help from several cops to make it to the ambulance and obviously isn't just going to walk it off. In reality, a gunshot wound to the abdomen can cause a great deal of damage, since there are a lot of important organs there (Sabian seemed to be going for a "[[Film/{{Scream}} stay to the side and don't go too deep]]" approach, but [[BulletsDoNotWorkThatWay guns are not knives]]). Sabian points out that if Frost had shot him, it would have been worse.]]

* DestructionEqualsOffSwitch: Used twice in the movie by The Dirty Cops. In the first instance, the IAB workstation is shot by [[spoiler: Allen, Argento & Hellman]] to destroy the evidence. They even avert ComputerEqualsMonitor by targeting the tower, not the monitor, which not only makes sure Danny can't turn it back on, but has a fairly likely chance of irrevocably destroying the data (even if they missed the hard drive, it's not like Danny has the time to disassemble the thing). Later, [[spoiler: Frost]], snaps some floppy disks in half which had copies of the evidence before also shooting the computer in the same fashion.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The film actually Deconstructs the concept of the Framed Hero finding out who his "real" friends are when things hit the fan. When Danny is ordered to turn in his badge, he gives the standard "You know me better than this" line usually made in this situation, but later on Sabian (correctly) points out that belief in Danny's innocence or guilt in this situation is irrelevant, the cops are ''doing their jobs'' by following the evidence where it leads them (and trying to neutralize an angry man who has taken hostages). [[spoiler: Frost who is the only one somewhat supportive of Danny throughout the whole mess [[BitchInSheepsClothing is really]] [[BigBadFriend the villain who set him up in the first place]].]]

* InsistentTerminology: Maggie is Niebaum's ''assistant'', not secretary. Backfires on her when Danny realizes she might have more information than he initially suspects.

* {{Jerkass}}: Beck was a dick even ''before'' Danny was setup. This, plus his gung ho attitude when the hostage crisis erupts, suggests he's involved in the conspiracy. [[spoiler:[[RedHerring He's not]].]]

* JurisdictionFriction: Between the FBI and Chicago PD, as the building is a federal one and the FBI allow them jurisdiction [[spoiler: until their screw ups compel them to take over the situation.]]
* LargeHam: Samuel L. Jackson goes to town with this after the failed breach, standing at the shattered window in front of the police helicopters and shouting for them to take his blood, knowing full well they won't shoot him on national television.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: When the crooked cops shoot [[spoiler:Niebaum]] they engage in a drawn out firefight with Danny to make it look like the guy just got caught in the crossfire. Danny points out to Sabian that he has "three shots to center mass" obviously indicating murder.
* MoodWhiplash: The don't say no phone scene.
* MoralEventHorizon: Played with in-universe. [[spoiler:Danny wants everyone to ''think'' he's shot one of the officers who attempted the first raid, thus demonstrating that he is to be taken seriously. [[FakeKillScare But eventually reveals it was staged.]]]]
** [[spoiler: At the end, after Beck shoots Frost to prevent him from killing himself, Danny picks up Frost's gun and is about to give him a CoupDeGrace. He looks around and, seeing his wife and all of his friends, drops the gun.]]

* SanitySlippage: Subverted. [[spoiler:Danny only acts increasingly unhinged after the failed breach and pretends to shoot Scott to make the police think it isn't worth risking the other hostages' lives with another breach. He stays relatively cool and in control throughout the ordeal, which is justified since he's a cop with decades of experience in tense situations.]]

** [[spoiler: Frost takes ''himself'' hostage by putting a gun to his own head in hopes of getting the SWAT team to back down. Beck foils his plan by shooting him in the shoulder.]]

* StockholmSyndrome[=/=]LimaSyndrome - Justified; the hostages come over to his side once they realize he's being set up, and he's apologetic about having to put them through it all to clear his name.

* TurnInYourBadge: Danny is given this order by the Chief before his meeting with the DA. Getting it back is one of his demands.

* HeroAntagonist: Primarily Sabian who is the {{Deuteragonist}} of the film, but really the entire team trying to take Roman down qualify because they really do believe that he's a DirtyCop who stole their money and murdered his own partner. Well... [[spoiler: aside from the ones who framed him for it, of course. Also Beck pretty much screams "RabidCop" with his constant attempts to have SWAT charge into the building and shoot Roman, but is the one cop in a leading position during the stand-off (other than Sabian and Chief Travis) that ''isn't'' crooked.]]

[[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat I got nothing against you dressing up like a little girl]], but I did ''not'' know that about you, Farley.

'''Danny:''' You ever... dress up like a schoolgirl and get your ass spanked? [''[[EpicFail Farley tries and fails to come up with a way to say no without using the word]]''] Jesus...

'''Danny:''' You ever... dress up like a schoolgirl and get your ass spanked? [''[[EpicFail Farley tries and fails to come up with a way to say no without using the word]]''] Jesus... [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat I got nothing against you dressing up like a little girl]], but I did ''not'' know that about you, Farley.
* CovertDistressCode: At the beginning, Danny flashes hand signals (1, 2, and 3 fingers) to alert the sniper team when to fire. The "1" signal is worked into his conversation with the hostage taker as a "wait a minute" gesture, while the others are displayed with his back turned to the suspect.
* CowboyCop: Danny, much to Beck's annoyance.
** Although Beck has this mentality himself with his gung-ho attitude to just go in and kill Danny first and then ask questions second.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The film actually Deconstructs the concept of the Framed Hero finding out who his "real" friends are when things hit the fan. When Danny is ordered to turn in his badge, he gives the standard "You know me better than this" line usually made in this situation, but later on Sabian (correctly) points out that belief in Danny's innocence or guilt in this situation is irrelevant, the cops are ''doing their jobs'' by following the evidence where it leads them (and trying to neutralize an angry man who has taken hostages). [[spoiler: Frost who is the only one who is somewhat supportive of Danny throughout the whole mess [[BitchInSheepsClothing is really]] [[BigBadFriend the villain who set him up in the first place]].]]

'''Danny:''' You ever... dress up like a schoolgirl and get your ass spanked? [''[[EpicFail Farley tries and fails to come up with a way to say no without using the word]]''] Jesus... [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat I got nothing against you dressing up like a little girl]], but I did ''not'' know that about you, Farley”

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The film actually Deconstructs the concept of the Framed Hero finding out who his "real" friends are when things hit the fan. When Danny is ordered to turn in his badge, he gives the standard "You know me better than this" line usually made in this situation, but later on Sabian (correctly) points out that belief in Danny's innocence or guilt in this situation is irrelevant, the cops are ''doing their jobs'' by following the evidence where it leads them (and trying to neutralize an angry man who has taken hostages). [[spoiler: Frost who is the only one who is somewhat supportive of Danny throughout the whole mess [[BitchInSheepsClothing is really]] [[BigBadFriend the villain who set him up in the first place]].]]

* BluffingTheMurderer: [[spoiler: Sabian gets the murderer to confess by blackmailing him with the nonexistent evidence.]]
* ButtMonkey: Farley basically exists [[TheChewToy for no other reason than to get utterly humiliated by Danny]]. The first time his name is mentioned, long before he appears on-screen in any meaningful capacity, is when Danny complains that "Farley screwed up the list!" (Said list being a likes / dislikes inventory for the current hostage-taker - Farley put the man's dog on the "Likes" side, but the guy hates his dog for barking all the time.) He later on gets humiliated by Danny getting him to repeatedly say 'No'.

'''Danny:''' You ever... dress up like a schoolgirl and get your ass spanked? [''[[EpicFail Farley tries and fails to come up with a way to say no without using the word]]''] Jesus... [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat I got nothing against you dressing up like a little girl]], but I did ''not'' know that about you, Farley.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The film actually Deconstructs the concept of the Framed Hero finding out who his "real" friends are when things hit the fan. When Danny is ordered to turn in his badge, he gives the standard "You know me better than this" line usually made in this situation, but later on Sabian (correctly) points out that belief in Danny's innocence or guilt in this situation is irrelevant, the cops are ''doing their jobs'' by following the evidence where it leads them (and trying to neutralize an angry man who has taken hostages). [[spoiler: The one friend who does appear somewhat supportive of Danny throughout the whole mess [[BitchInSheepsClothing is really]] [[BigBadFriend the villain who set him up in the first place]].]]