Critic Reviews

Smartly written, sharply played and directed at a cracking pace that never sacrifices clarity for speed, The Package is an enormously satisfying political thriller.

The Package has its shortcomings - notably its disjointed beginning and some implausible miscalculations by the conspirators toward the end - but it generally hums at a healthy clip with twinges of Big Brother paranoia. [25 Aug 1989, p.12]

You may not swallow every coincidental encounter and hair's-breadth escape, but this crisp, complex thriller makes you care what happens every moment; Hackman brings such road-worn humanity to his part you may not realize until the end that this Everyman is a Superman in middle-age disguise. [4 Sept 1989, p.68]

The whole movie, in fact, is smarter than most contemporary thrillers. It gives us credit for being able to figure things out, and it contains characters who are devilishly intelligent. Almost smart enough, we think for a while, to really pull this thing off.

The Package manages a degree of believability, thanks in large part to Hackman's customary professionalism. Probably no other star could convey such credibility. [24 Aug 1989]

Hackman isn't giving a "Mississippi Burning"-caliber performance here, but it is a well-crafted one. Jones has the actor's advantage in the villain's role of a cynical soldier who comes to like but not respect the sergeant. The supporting players skulk and menace effectively, and Cassidy adds an earthy oomph to her tag-along's role. Of course there are also the customary chases, crashes and gruesome murders. In other words, it's the best in mindless entertainment.

The plot is reasonably entertaining, and Davis handles the action sequences well, but where the film transcends a lingering sense of déjà vu is in its intelligent performances: Hackman and Cassidy make a strong, unsentimental couple, hints of romance and reconciliation lurking beneath their businesslike exchanges.

Staggeringly preposterous, yet not without a certain entertainment value. Except for the glasnost angle, there's nothing original about The Package, yet there's something amusing in its reminder of how the political assassination genre has come full circle since "The Manchurian Candidate."

Hackman, with the force of his inelegant personality and his gift for dramatic understatement, makes it go. He has saved a lot of movies, and this is one. [25 Aug 1989, p.G5]

AFTER the first 10 minutes or so, there are few surprises in The Package. But director Andrew Davis, given a suspense script with little actual suspense in it, keeps this espionage tale moving right along, and Gene Hackman, as usual, is a plus. The result is a moderately entertaining if predictable action film. [25 Aug 1989, p.3F]