Themes: Assassination Plots, Political Corruption, Conspiracies
Main Cast: Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, Dennis Franz
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The Package, a thriller involving political assassination and intrigue, is an excellent action feature using a familiar theme and providing good performances by the cast. Boyette (Tommy Lee Jones) is a prisoner entrusted to Gallagher (Gene Hackman) for transportation back to the United States. Boyette escapes and Gallagher must find him. In doing so, Gallagher finds himself getting into far more than he had bargained for as he becomes involved in a political assignation plot that he must stop. Both Hackman and Jones are excellent in reprising familiar roles. Hackman is never better than when portraying the decent man in a precarious position, and Jones plays Boyette with the same cunning and intelligence that he brought to The Executioner's Song. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Pam Grier - Ruth Butler; Kevin Crowley - Walter Henke; Reni Santoni - Chicago Police Lieutenant; Ron Dean - Karl Richards; Thalmus Rasulala - Secret Service Commander; Nathan Davis - Soviet Press Secretary; Chelcie Ross - Gen. Thomas Hopkins; Joe V. Greco - Gen. Robert Carlson; Ike Pappas - Himself; Mike Bacarella - Paramedic; Gene Barge - Secret Service Agent; Dennis Cockrum - Computer Technician; Dick Cusack - Secretary of State; Anatoly Davydov - Col. Gregor Malekov; Ralph Foody - Building Manager; Cody Glenn - Johnny's Field Soldier; Greg Goossen - Soldier in Provost Marshal's Office; Allen Hamilton - American General; Don James - Command Post Soldier; Michael James - Nazi Goon; Nick Kusenko - Gen. Carlson's Aide; Harry J. Lennix - Johnny's Field Soldier; Boris Leskin - Soviet Foreign Minister; Hilda McLean - Old German Woman; Miguel Nino - Thug; Juan Ramirez - Thug; Carlos Sanz - Johnny's Field Soldier; Mik Scriba - Thug; Mary Seibel - Henke's Mother; Marco St. John - Marth; Michael Tomlinson - Johnny's Field Soldier; Wilhelm von Homburg - West Berlin Police Lieutenant; Otto von Wernherr - East German Army Lieutenant; Gregory Alan Williams - Col. Woods; Will Zahrn - Nazi Goon; Jack Gold - Governor; Ivory Ocean - Washington, DC, Witness; Eddie Bo Smith, Jr. - Ft. Belvoir Duty MP; Nancy Baird - Milan's Wife; Steve Barbo - Hotel Police Officer; Gary Berkovich - Soviet General; Lana Berkovich - Translator; Billy Bosco - Milan's Son; Dr. Christine Cassel - Speaker at Governors Conference; John D'Amico - Soviet General Secretary; Johnny Lee Davenport - MP; Metta Davis - Washington, DC, Witness; Oksana Fedunyszyn - Eileen's Secretary; Tina Gloschenko - Henke's Girl Friend; Henry Godinez - Lock-up Police Officer; Danny Goldring - Undercover Bum; Kathryn Joosten - Waitress; Jack Kandel - Soldier with Orders; Joe D. Lauck - Sen. Bruce; Katherine Lynch - Henke's Wife; Walter Markley - Secret Service Agent; Charles Mueller - Backpacker; William Musyka - Soviet General; Greg Noonan - Command Post Commander; Dmitri Polytnsev - Translator; Phillip Prerost - Hospital Police Officer; Alex Ross - Liquor Store Clerk; Leon Samoilovich - Soviet Security Agent; Michael Skewes - M. P; Ray Starr; Harry Teinowitz - Command Post Soldier; Dianne Timmerman - Backpacker; Joe Guzaldo - Press Secretary Rogers; Gary Goldman - Command Post Soldier; Ray Allen - United States President; John W. Hardy - Sky Cap; Chad Smith - Milan's Son
Credit
Colleen Kennedy - Art Director, Wynn P. Thomas - Art Director, Louis Di Giaimo - Casting, Beverly J. Camhe - Co-producer, Andrew Davis - Co-producer, Tobie Haggerty - Co-producer, Marilyn Vance - Costume Designer, Andrew Davis - Director, Billy Weber - Editor, Don Zimmerman - Editor, Arne Schmidt - Executive Producer, James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Rodger Jacobs - Makeup, Michel Levesque - Production Designer, Astral Bellevue Pathe Color - Cinematographer, Frank Tidy - Cinematographer, Charles James Newirth - Production Manager, William Fosser - Set Designer, Rick T. Gentz - Set Designer, Bundy Trinz - Set Designer, Tom Ryba - Special Effects, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Troy Brown - Stunts, Rom Milanovich - Stunts, Jeff Ramsey - Stunts, Jim Wilkey - Stunts, Jeannie Epper - Stunts, Rick LeFevour - Stunts, Terry J. Leonard - Stunts, Donna Evans - Stunts, Hank Calia - Stunts, Terry Jackson - Stunts, Brian Burrows - Stunts, Stacy Logan - Stunts, Dennis Haggerty - Screen Story, John Bishop - Screenwriter, Richard L. Anderson - Supervising Sound Editor
The Package was a 1989 Orion Pictures film directed by Andrew Davis. Set during the Cold War, this political thriller portrays an assassinationconspiracy within both the U.S. and Soviet militaries. The Americans and Soviets are about to sign a disarmament treaty to completely eliminate nuclear weapons, but elements within each country's military are vehemently opposed to such a plan and determined to stop it at all costs.
Gene Hackman stars as Johnny Gallagher, a Master Sergeant in the United States Army who is assigned to escort a prisoner named Thomas Boyette (Tommy Lee Jones) back to the United States. When Boyette escapes, Gallagher pursues him and discovers that Boyette is actually a professional assassin hired to kill the leader of the Soviet Union. Gallagher is joined by his ex-wife Eileen, a lieutenant colonel in the army (Joanna Cassidy) and Chicago police officer Milan Delich (Dennis Franz).
