In the Line of Fire

Plot[edit]

United States Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan learns, in a routine investigation, that a mysterious man who calls himself "Booth", an obvious reference to John Wilkes Booth (Abraham Lincoln's murderer), is planning to assassinate the President of the United States (unnamed in the film). Booth soon makes a phone call to Horrigan and reveals that he knows Horrigan's history: Horrigan was one of President Kennedy's bodyguards, but failed to protect JFK on the day of his assassination. Obsessed with his failure and tormented by feelings of guilt, Horrigan has become a cynical, loveless alcoholic, but now he requests to be assigned to protect the current President. His co-worker is the playful-but-businesslike Lily Raines.


Booth continues to call Horrigan from time to time, even though he knows that his calls are being traced. He calls from public telephones and allows his calls to be traced, but escapes before the Secret Service can arrest him. He needles Horrigan for his failure to protect Kennedy but also calls him a "friend". Booth escapes Horrigan and at one site, he inadvertently leaves a palm print on a passing car. The Federal Bureau of Investigation matches the print, but because the person's identity is classified, the agency chooses not to disclose it to the Secret Service. The FBI does, however, notify the Central Intelligence Agency. Booth goes to a bank to open an account where the banker, Pam asks where Booth is from and he says he's from Minneapolis which happens to be where Pam is from as well. Fearing she might interfere with his plans and that she'll remember him, Booth follows her to her home, Questions her and kills her and her roommate.


Horrigan learns that the dodgy assassin is in fact Mitch Leary, a skilled killer who used to work for the CIA, but suffered a mental breakdown and is now a "predator" seeking revenge on his former masters. Leary is also independently wealthy and tech-savvy. He is able to mold a zip gun out of composite material so as to evade metal detectors, and he can carry two small bullets past a metal detector concealed in a key-ring ornament. He is therefore in a position to carry a functional pistol into a fundraising event at which the President is scheduled to speak in person to the donors.


D'Andrea, one of Horrigan's underlings, confides to Horrigan that he intends to retire immediately because of nightmares about a previous incident in which he was almost killed, but Horrigan persuades him to remain on the case. The two of them succeed in catching up to Leary after tracing one of his phone calls. Leary flees to the top of a building; the two bodyguards chase Leary across Washington rooftops, where Leary shoots and kills D'Andrea but saves Horrigan from falling to his death as he clings to the side of the building. As he supports Horrigan at the edge of the roof, Leary taunts Horrigan with his immediate dilemma: he (Horrigan) can save the President by shooting Leary, but then Horrigan will himself fall to his death. Horrigan is forced by circumstance to let Leary escape: choosing to "save [his] ass" (as Leary gleefully puts it) rather than save the President. Feelings of guilt over having failed to save D'Andrea on the rooftop further demoralize Horrigan.


At the fundraiser, Horrigan receives an electronic communication containing some crucial information he had requested, and realizes that Leary is there, disguised and armed. As Leary draws his pistol and takes aim at the President, Horrigan jumps between them and saves the President's life, shouting "gun!" at the top of his voice. Leary fires his pistol, but Horrigan is wearing a regulation bullet-proof vest. While the Secret Service hustles the President to safety, Leary takes Horrigan as a hostage and pulls him into one of the hotel's external glass elevators. Horrigan is also wearing a regulation hidden microphone; he openly instructs Raines and sharpshooters to fire upon Leary. They fire but miss, shooting out the elevator's full-height windows. Horrigan takes advantage of the surprise and engages Leary in ferocious, hand-to-hand combat in the small elevator. Leary falls through one of the ornamental windows and finds himself in the same position Horrigan was in before: hanging by his fingers from a precarious perch with only his arch-enemy to save him. Though Horrigan offers to pull him up to safety, he declares that he would only save him because it's his job, and Leary ultimately commits suicide by letting go, falling to his death.


Upon returning home to Washington, and now a widely publicized hero, Horrigan announces his retirement. Horrigan shows Raines into his apartment, where an unexpected farewell message from Leary is found on Horrigan's answering machine. They play the message, in which Leary begins to commend Horrigan on his character, but Horrigan and Raines leave the apartment before the message ends. The film ends with Horrigan and Raines enjoying a romantic interlude at the Lincoln Memorial.