The minute Gene Hackman entered the picture, this was a totally different movie. The murder had to take place, and we had to see the setup that led to it. But this turned into what seemed like an episode of a humorous TV murder mystery. Hackman did a great job and gave us plenty of laughs, even though this wasn't a comedy. Once he and Anne Archer's reluctant witness got together, it was almost a romantic comedy with two mismatched partners. And the action just kept on coming. Along with the two fine performances of the leads, we had plenty of memorable characters. J.A. Preston's demanding district attorney, Emmet Walsh's edgy detective (who didn't stay around long, which was a shame), and an older man who gave up his suite so Caulfield and his "pregnant" wife could have their privacy. Doogie Howser's father did a great job as the main bad guy. And the woman whose name I don't remember who hoped for a romantic relationship with Caulfield.We were always on edge as we wondered what would happen next. And there was the real excitement of action on top of the train cars. And beautiful scenery in western Canada.I mentioned Hackman's comic abilities, but he did an amazing dramatic performance in one scene as he made it clear why he was going to so much trouble to make sure the bad guys got justice, if they could. There are so many moral dilemmas.It was a worthy effort.

Richard Fleischer's "The Narrow Margin" was a great little B-Movie and a classic suspense picture. Peter Hyams' remake is hardly in the same class but it's no disgrace either. It's glossier and done on an altogether larger scale and it makes superb use of some spectacular Canadian scenery. This time it's Anne Archer who is the witness to a killing and Gene Hackman is the Deputy District Attorney trying to keep her alive so she can testify against Mafia boss Harris Yulin. It keeps its train board setting and Hyams builds suspense very nicely in this reasonably claustrophobic locale. Those fine character actors J.T. and M Emmett Walsh are also on hand though they are dispatched much too early for my liking. Not a classic, then, but very enjoyable nevertheless.

This film was almost constantly annoying. The main character, supposedly an ex-Marine, manages to get his hands on actual guns several times, which might well have evened up the odds a little in his attempts to escape the assassins sent to kill his charge, so of course the screenwriter inserted bits of business each time to let the "hero" screw it up. He loses one gun whilst he stops to preen himself in a mirror, t'other whilst he tosses off a quip evidently meant to display the screenwriter's facility with Bondish repartee, and is so stuck on himself that he fails to notice when the obvious decoy on the train makes goo-goo eyes at him, ignoring countless real hunks in the process, and so sets up the mandatory denouement in which the decoy (quelle surprise!) acts out the perfect "villain taunting the hero" scene and is vanquished mid-taunt, whilst Bond... pardon... one or another of the Marx Brothers, utters the perfect quip, which in real life would have allowed the decoy to escape and kill both witness and the main character, but of course it doesn't, since the screenwriter couldn't let that happen, so it didn't, but only through brute force, wrestling a happy ending out of a bloody mash-up.I don't mind a little suspension of disbelief, but I prefer honest slapstick to whatever the heck this was.

(Credit IMDb) 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. When they finally catch up with her, she is unwilling to testify to what she has seen, but the Mafia are on her trail. Accompanied by a deputy district attorney, the woman boards a train travelling through a remote part of Canada. The Mafia know him but they have never seen her.Come on! It's Gene Hackman. Do you really need much more of a recommendation? It's rather derivative and nothing all that special, but Hackman can make the dullest of things come to life. With any other lead actor, this movie would have probably been very mediocre. With his presence, it becomes above average. I was surprised about the decent amount of suspense as well. Anne Archer makes for a great heroine, while the two Walsh's are solid as well. I've never seen the original, but I personally enjoyed this6.3/10