The Package (1989)

My Review

In “The Package,” Gene Hackman plays a U. S. Army master sergeant who is assigned to escort a military prisoner from West Germany to America. Upon arrival at home, his party is ambushed in the airport as the prisoner escapes, with all sorts of subsequent trouble, which could result in an international incident. Director Andrew Davis (“Above the Law” 1988) put together a fair action thriller that unfortunately is difficult to follow in the film’s early stages due to a muddled storyline, thanks to mediocre writing by screenwriter John Bishop. The film gets better if you stick with it!

Co-stars with Hackman include Joanna Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, Dennis Franz, Reni Santoni, Pam Grier, Ron Dean, Chelcie Ross, Kevin Crowley, Thalmus Rasulala, Marco St. John, John D’Amico as the Soviet General Secretary, Ray Allen as the President of America, and newsman Ike Pappas as himself. The watchable movie “The Package” was a flop at the box office for Orion Pictures.