IN THE LINE OF FIRE **

More workmanlike than truly inspired, "In the Line of Fire" is, nevertheless, a good if fairly obvious thriller about a presidential assassin. He's played by John Malkovich and he's targeting, not just the President, but one of his bodyguards who also happened to be one of the bodyguards on duty the day Kennedy was assassinated. He's Clint Eastwood and this might have been a better movie had Eastwood directed it instead of just acting in it. The actual director was Wolfgang Petersen and he doesn't do anything here that's distinctive; everything he does is in service of the script. What gives the film its edge is Malkovich whose sly, scene-stealing performance earned him an Oscar nomination. Others in the cast, (Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, John Mahoney, Gary Cole), are largely wasted.