The Negotiator

How do you feel when you show children, teens and young adults a "good guy, bad guy" movie and the good guy wins in the end?

When I was younger, I was more idealistic and believed in "doing the right thing".

Today? I advise my young charges to be smart, to be realistic and to live in the real world.

Am I being cynical or jaded? Maybe a bit.

The world is not sunshine and rainbows and I feel that we should not be condescending towards young people by insisting that it is.

I am optimistic and I still believe that there are good people around...I just think that we should also be smart and not mess with the rotten apples.

Anyway, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey are dynamite in this gripping movie about a corrupted police force where "a hostage negotiator who, after being framed for murder, tries to clear his name by taking people hostage."

"The Negotiator" is Samuel L. Jackson and he is one of the top negotiators, Lt. Danny Roman, in hostage cases but he ironically holds people hostage when he is framed for murder.

Another negotiator, Lt. Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey) is brought in to negotiate with the negotiator!

The movie involves a lot of dialogue, which may be boring to kids, but it's a great movie to watch with the family on Friday night.

I remember watching it with the kids and they had so many questions about what's going on!

I also find that the movie is useful to teach children about what to do in the case of a hostage situation.

Although the movie is about betrayal and corruption...I made the decision not to delve too much on the topic of the police pension fund.

I still believe in sunshine and rainbows, remember? ;-)