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Narrow Margin
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Narrow Margin (1990) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 13 | slideshow) Videos (see all 2)
Narrow Margin (1990) -- A woman secretly witnesses the murder of her blind date for the evening by a top Mafia boss. She immediately goes into hiding without informing the authorities...
Narrow Margin (1990) -- US Home Video Extra (Clip) from Tri Star

Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   2,883 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Peter Hyams
Writers (WGA):
Martin Goldsmith (earlier story) &
Jack Leonard (earlier story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Narrow Margin on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 September 1990 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Thriller more
Tagline:
Sometimes the difference between life and death can be a Narrow Margin more
Plot:
A woman secretly witnesses the murder of her blind date for the evening by a top Mafia boss. She immediately... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
Quite a ride more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Gene Hackman ... Robert Caulfield

Anne Archer ... Carol Hunnicut
James Sikking ... Nelson (as James B. Sikking)

J.T. Walsh ... Michael Tarlow

M. Emmet Walsh ... Sergeant Dominick Benti
Susan Hogan ... Kathryn Weller
Nigel Bennett ... Jack Wootton
J.A. Preston ... Martin Larner
B.A. 'Smitty' Smith ... Keller
Codie Lucas Wilbee ... Nicholas
Barbara Russell ... Nicholas' Mother (as Barbara E. Russell)
Antony Holland ... Elderly Man
Doreen Ramos ... Elderly Woman
Kevin McNulty ... James Dahlbeck
Andrew Rhodes ... Sgt. Nigro
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Additional Details

Runtime:
97 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)
Filming Locations:
British Columbia, Canada

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
As with Elliott Gould's character in Capricorn One (1978), Gene Hackman's Robert Caulfield is named after Peter Hyams' old boss from his days as working as a TV reporter. more
Goofs:
Continuity: The lamp shot out by the bullet is soon repaired. more
Quotes:
Nicholas: This guy's lying - he's a train robber!
Caulfield: What would I want with a train?
more
Movie Connections:
Edited into Crash Point Zero (2000) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful:-
Quite a ride, 30 June 2008
7/10
Author: TrevorAclea from London, England

1990's Narrow Margin made a poor showing at the box-office, which is a pity because this is a thriller that really thrills. All too quickly dismissed by many critics for committing the cardinal sin of being a remake (in this case of Richard Fleischer's classic 1952 B-movie), it's a superbly paced example of pure commercial film-making at its most satisfying.

Intelligently scripted by director Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, Outland) with an admirable use of Scope that emphasises the claustrophobic nature of the game of cat-and-mouse, there are at least two genuinely breath-taking moments even before the inevitable train-top finale. Yet the film is always careful to maintain a semblance of credibility. As a result, it derives as much of its suspense from our involvement with the characters as from its bravura action sequences.

True, these are stereotypes - idealistic DA, frightened-but-honest witness, pragmatic killer - but they are believable stereotypes who behave logically, relying on their wits. If the watchword of Hyams' Outland was professionalism, in Narrow Margin it is self-reliance. Both sides have to make the most of what is to hand in a restrictive environment that works against them equally.

If this enclosed environment had been a spaceship and the killers aliens, Narrow Margin might have wowed them at the box-office. As it is, without an easily exploitable angle, it proved one of the most mystifying of Hyams' frequent financial disappointments: Hyams at his peak was the consummate commercial film-maker, yet paradoxically his films were never very commercially successful. With impressive performances from Hackman, Archer and Hyams' regular James B. Sikking as the businessman-like killer who prefers negotiation to coercion, Narrow Margin deserved much, much better. It's a good movie, and one you won't just watch once.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Narrow Margin (1990)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Good stunt effects using the real 'top' actors? Marlburian
toy train? kbsrailroad
30 min. longer, 30 times worse than original theclockticks
can i see som identification mamba_27
The Chevy Blazer chase footage - exactly same in 'Commando'? the_nightfly
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