''In Her Line of Fire'' (also known as ''Air Force Two'') is a 2006 American
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
directed by
Brian Trenchard-Smith
Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, ...
and starring
Mariel Hemingway
Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in W ...
,
David Keith David Keith may refer to:
* David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller
*David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director
*David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...
,
David Millbern
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and
Jill Bennett.
''In Her Line of Fire'' opened in
limited release in the United States on April 21, 2006.
The alternate version of the film distributed in other countries deleted all references to the
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
of the Lynn Delaney character.
Plot
Air Force Two
Air Force Two is the air traffic control designated call sign held by any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the U.S. vice president, but not the president. The term is often associated with the Boeing C-32, a modified 757 which is mos ...
, carrying Vice President Walker and his staff, is flying over the South Pacific when it is suddenly damaged by an electrical storm. The plane is forced to ditch in the ocean off the coast of the (fictional) country of San Pietro, located near the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
. As the few survivors make it onto the beach of a small off-shore island, one of them is shot dead by gunmen from a guerrilla camp. The remaining survivors, including the Vice President, his Secret Service bodyguard Sergeant Major Lynn Delaney, and two members of the press corps, flee into the jungle and escape from the killers. It emerges that the shooters belong to a group of armed rebel forces intent on overthrowing San Pietro's dictatorial government. They are led by Armstrong, a ruthless American mercenary.
VP Walker, a former
US Marine
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, and Delaney, an out
lesbian ex-marine, served together in Kuwait during
Desert Storm
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
and fight off the rebels. One of the reporters is injured while running and tries to hide, but is caught and murdered by Armstrong. Walker is eventually caught, with orders from Armstrong to capture him alive because he plans to hold him for ransom. Before the catastrophe, Delaney and journalist Sharon Serrano had a tension-filled collaboration, and it now fell to them to infiltrate the rebel camp and save Walker. They are also captured after a gunfight. Armstrong orders that Delaney be put to death, but en route to the destination she is able to jump out of the jeep and escapes from her captors. She then sets out to rescue Walker and Sharon. Delaney sneaks into the guerrilla camp under cover of darkness and grabs weapons and explosives, placing landmine devices in strategic locations. The explosives create havoc in the camp, while she shoots and kills rebels from a distance.
Armstrong has arranged a buyer for VP Walker, flees the camp with him and Sharon, and heads to a boat anchored in the nearby river. Delaney, however, was lying in wait for Armstrong to arrive and when his henchman boards the boat the two engage in hand-to-hand combat. While heading towards the boat on a raft, Walker attacks Armstrong, they fall into the water, Sharon joins the fight, and Armstrong is drowned. Delaney kills the henchman with a speargun. Armstrong, though, had not drowned and as he rises from the water Delaney shoots him dead. Navy search and rescue helicopters spot the three, and Delaney and Sharon kiss passionately while Walker, who had earlier encouraged Delaney to "go for it" regarding Sharon, smiles.
In return for the VP's rescue and the cooperation of some of the rebel forces, the United States offers aid to San Pietro on condition that they agree to hold democratic elections.
Cast
*
Mariel Hemingway
Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in W ...
as Sergeant Major Lynn Delaney
*
David Keith David Keith may refer to:
* David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller
*David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director
*David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...
as Vice President Walker
*
David Millbern
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
as Armstrong
*
Jill Bennett as Sharon Serrano
Production
Filming
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...
took place over 12 days in various New Zealand locations, and 2 days in Vancouver, Canada.
Brian Trenchard-Smith had previously directed a
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
-
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
action film, ''
Tides of War
''Tides of War'' is a 2000 novel by Steven Pressfield, chronicling the Peloponnesian War.
Plot summary
Jason, a disciple of Socrates, is asked to help defend Polemides, infamous in Athens as the man who assassinated Alcibiades. Predisposed to ...
''. He described ''In Her Line of Fire'' as:
A Lesbian Rambo movie ... a homage to 80's gun porn, starring Mariel Hemingway as the Vice President's sapphic secret service chief. This future Vice President, played by David Keith, in a utopian Washington where universal health care is passed by unanimous vote, actively encourages the seduction of one lesbian by another. "You're a marine. Go for it." ... The concept of a gay hero/heroine in the Harrison Ford role was the point.
''In Her Line of Fire'' was produced for
Here! Films as a
feature-length
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
movie for the
Here TV
Here TV is an American premium television network targeting LGBT audiences. Launched in 2002, Here TV is available nationwide on all major cable systems, fiber optics systems, and Internet TV providers as either a 24/7 premium subscription channe ...
premium network,
and was marketed to a lesbian audience. The
film poster
A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. Th ...
included the
tagline
In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...
: "Behind enemy lines, No man can stop her. Only one woman can touch her."
Critical reception
In his review for ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', Dennis Harvey said the film was "passable action trash" and a "silly but serviceable"
actioner, but described the performance by Mariel Hemingway as "a credible
Sapphic Stallone".
Box office
With a $1.3 million budget,
it grossed $884K in its limited release.
Home media
The film was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in
Region 1 on January 16, 2007.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
* (Archive)
*
*
*
''In Her Line of Fire''official trailer at
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:In Her Line Of Fire
2006 films
2006 action drama films
2006 action thriller films
2006 LGBT-related films
2000s action drama films
2000s American films
2000s English-language films
American action drama films
American action thriller films
American aviation films
American LGBT-related films
Girls with guns films
Lesbian-related films
Films directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith