History Film / InTheLineOfFire

* SeeTheWhitesOfTheirEyes: Horrigan mentions this when explaining why he doesn't wear sunglasses on detail.

* BatmanColdOpen: Busting counterfeiters at the beginning of the movie. It's quite [[FridgeBrilliance brilliant]] a choice because [[TruthInTelevision that's what the Secret Service spends most of their time doing.]][[note]]Prior to 9/11, the Secret Service was under the Treasury Department. Now it's under Homeland Security.[[/note]]

** Well, to be fair, they're also reluctant because he's much, much older than is really optimal for such a physically demanding assignment.

---> '''Al''': "Frank! I got him, Frank---"

* MeaningfulName: "Call me Booth."

''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 PsychologicalThriller about a Secret Service agent named Frank Horrigan, played by Creator/ClintEastwood, trying to stop a potential assassin (JohnMalkovich) who has contacted him, giving him advance notice that he plans to kill the President of the United States. So begins a cat-and-mouse chase as the assassin drops hints to taunt and torment Horrigan, whose history (on detail at the time of the [[WhoShotJFK Kennedy assassination]]) he knows perfectly well. The advertising for the movie made explicit reference to the fact that it was released 30 years after the Kennedy assassination. Also stars Rene Russo as Horrigan's partner.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: "Why did you kill that bird, asshole?"

* CounterfeitCash: What Frank is investigating in the beginning. (This was the original mission of the Secret Service, and they still do it.)

* EvilDetectingDog: Pam's dog, who knows something's not right about "James Carney".

* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: The counterfeiters at the start of the film ask the undercover Frank to shoot his partner, who they know to be a cop, to prove that he's not one too. Frank goes through with it - and it turns out the gun was empty (which he'd suspected based on how heavy it was).

* BatmanColdOpen: Busting counterfeiters at the beginning of the movie. It's quite [[FridgeBrilliance brilliant]] a choice because [[TruthInTelevision that's what the Secret Service spends most of their time doing.]]

* KickTheDog: Leary [[spoiler: kills Frank's nice-guy partner]], though he's quick to justify it [[spoiler: as self-defense]].

''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 PsychologicalThriller about a Secret Service agent named Frank Horrigan, played by ClintEastwood, trying to stop a potential assassin (JohnMalkovich) who has contacted him, giving him advance notice that he plans to kill the President of the United States. So begins a cat-and-mouse chase as the assassin drops hints to taunt and torment Horrigan, whose history (on detail at the time of the [[WhoShotJFK Kennedy assassination]]) he knows perfectly well. The advertising for the movie made explicit reference to the fact that it was released 30 years after the Kennedy assassination. Also stars Rene Russo as Horrigan's partner.

* CounterfeitCash

* MetalDetectorCheckpoint

* WhoShotJFK: Averted. The details of the assassination are not called into question. Near the end of the film, Frank expresses his contempt for all of the drunken armchair theorists who've invented conspiracy theories about it.

* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: The counterfeiters at the start of the film ask the undercover Frank to shoot his partner, who they know to be a cop, to prove that he's not one too.

->'''Horrigan:''' ''Really? [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I had to look it up]].''

* ShoutOut: During one of the President's campaign stops, the band plays the theme from Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus. (Probably not meant as a shout out to Monty Python considering the nature of the film. That tune is a John Phillip Sousa march called "The Liberty Bell" which could very likely be played at a political event such as this.)

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Leary first contacts Frank by ringing him at home.
* TheChessmaster: Leary.

* WhoShotJFK: Averted. The details of the assassination are not called into question.

Notable for being Eastwood's last role in which he wasn't also directing. Also notable for the extensive consultation done with the Secret Service in order to achieve realism -- this had not been done before in Hollywood.

->'''Raines:''' ''Mm, I know what it means.''

* [[CIAEvilFBIGood CIA Evil, Secret Service Good]]: It is explained that [[spoiler: Leary is so {{Dangerously Genre Savvy}} because he used to be a CIA assassin.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Subverted - Leary [[spoiler: suggests that Frank wasn't prepared to make one for Kennedy in 1963]]. See also {{Taking the Bullet}} below.

* OhCrap: Leary's reaction when [[spoiler: the bank clerk is from Minneapolis, [[IAmOneOfThoseToo where he is pretending to be from]], and asks him where he went to high school.]] Though he plays it relatively cool and probably would have avoided suspicion, [[spoiler: the mere thought that he might have made an impression on her as a phony makes him decide to kill her.]]

* SeeTheWhitesOfTheirEyes: Horrigan mentions this when explaining why he doesn't wear sunglasses on detail.

* ShoutOut: During one of the President's campaign stops, the band plays the theme from MontyPythonsFlyingCircus. (Probably not meant as a shout out to Monty Python considering the nature of the film. That tune is a John Phillip Sousa march called "The Liberty Bell" which could very likely be played at a political event such as this.)

* TokenRomance: The subplot of [[MayDecemberRomance Horrigan and Raines's relationship]] does seem a little shoehorned in.

* BatmanColdOpen: Busting counterfeiters at the beginning of the movie.
** {{FridgeBrilliance}} That's what the Secret Service spend most of their time doing.

* IKEAWeaponry: Leary's assassination weapon is composed of several pieces of plastic, that he then assembles after getting the harmless looking items past the security checkpoints. The bullet is real: he hides it in a rabbit's foot keychain that gets past the metal detector because he can put it in the key tray.
** The prop was destroyed following filming out of concerns it could be used for the purposes shown in the film.

* DressHitsFloor: Gracefully subverted. When [[spoiler: Frank and Lily]] end in the room together the floor is hit with handcuffs, [[GunSafety pistols]], holsters, badges etc. Complete with rather loud thumps.