VIDEO ARCHIVES NOTES: This movie was discussed on the Patreon for the Video Archives podcast. You can hear a preview here.

Based on the 1952 film The Narrow Margin, this movie is the first of two RKO reimaginings by Peter Hyams. He also made 2009’s Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) is on a blind date at a hotel restaurant with lawyer Michael Tarlow (J.T. Walsh) when a waiter tells him he needs to call a client. He goes to his suite and brings Carol with him. As she hides, she watches crime boss Leo Watts (Harris Yulin) and henchman Jack Wooten (Nigel Bennett) accuse Tarlow of stealing from them, then killing him.

Watching TV that evening, she realizes that she’s about to be killed, as she’s in the middle of a mob case. She sends her ex-husband and child into hiding and makes her way to a cabin in the Canadian Rockies. Somehow, she’s found by Det. Sgt. Dominick Benti (M. Emmet Walsh) and deputy district attorney Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman). As they try to get her to testify, a helicopter flies by and shoots hundreds of bullets into the secluded hideout, killing Benti and the pilot that got Caulfield there.

They sneak their way on a train and learn that nearly every cop is dirty and that they have to watch out for everyone. Everyone is a crook, pretty much, even the seemingly innocent woman who tries to romance Caulfield.

There’s not much left of the original film other than the idea that everyone is trapped on a train. But it works, a solid action film that has two great actors in the lead.