The Package (1989 film)

The Package is a 1989 American political action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, and Dennis Franz.

Set during the Cold War, the film depicts the U.S. and Soviet governments as they are about to sign a disarmament treaty to completely eliminate nuclear weapons. However, elements within each country's military are vehemently opposed to such a plan, and determined to stop it at all costs.

Plot
U.S. Army Green Beret Master Sergeant Johnny Gallagher is part of a unit patrolling outside a chalet in West Berlin, where the U.S. President and the Soviet General Secretary are beginning talks for mutual nuclear disarmament. In another part of the chalet, high-ranking generals from the U.S. and Soviet militaries secretly agree to sabotage the talks. When U.S. General Carlson refuses to go along with the plot, he is assassinated outside the chalet by killers posing as German hikers – who slipped through the chalet's perimeter.

Gallagher is blamed for the disaster, and assigned as punishment to escort an Army sergeant named Walter Henke back to the United States for court martial. After landing at Dulles International Airport, Gallagher is ambushed by an undercover team, who spirit Henke away. Gallagher tracks down Henke's wife and is surprised when she shows a photo of a different man as her husband. Gallagher realizes that the man that he brought into the country is an imposter. After he leaves, the same undercover team kills Mrs. Henke and phones in an anonymous tip, identifying Gallagher as the killer, who is then detained. Meanwhile, the real Walter Henke is approached in Germany by Colonel Glen Whitacre, who tasks him with a top secret assignment to infiltrate a Neo-Nazi gang in his hometown of Chicago, who they believe are plotting to assassinate the President.

With the help of his ex-wife, Lt. Colonel Eileen Gallagher, and her assistant, Lt. Ruth Butler, Gallagher identifies the man he brought back from Germany as Thomas Boyette, a long-service Army veteran with a history of covert operations. The trio deduce that impersonating a prisoner allowed Boyette to enter the country without a passport, meaning there is no record of his entry and no way to track his movements.

When the same undercover team kills Butler and attacks Eileen, Johnny rescues her and escapes the base with the help of a friend. The Gallaghers investigate the conspiracy on their own, starting with trying to find the real Walter Henke in Chicago, where the next phase of the planned peace talks will take place. Johnny approaches his military friend, Chicago Police detective Milan Delich, who allows the Gallaghers to hide at his house. At a diner, the same undercover team attempts to kill Delich, leaving him wounded in the ensuing shootout and the team is killed. As Delich is taken away by ambulance, conspirators dressed as cops capture Johnny, who is then held in the basement of the safe house where Boyette is staying.

After Boyette leaves for his assignment, Gallagher escapes and speeds toward downtown Chicago, using Boyette's surveillance photos from the basement as a guide to the planned assassination site. Meanwhile, the real Walter Henke is lured into an office building overlooking the site and killed by Boyette, the intention being to frame Henke for the assassination and make it look like he was killed later.

Following a hotel luncheon, the Soviet Press Secretary, one of the conspirators, convinces the General Secretary to make an unplanned stop just outside the hotel's garage for a photo op with émigré Russian families. Before the US Secret Service can secure the site, Boyette takes aim at the General Secretary with a sniper rifle, but Gallagher bursts into the room and shoots Boyette dead.

Outside the room where he found Boyette, Gallagher confronts Whitacre and accuses him of trying to start a war for no reason. Angrily, Whitacre says that nuclear weapons are the only thing preventing war, and he and his Soviet counterparts are just smart enough to realize that mutual disarmament would be disastrous for both countries. Gallagher promises to expose the conspiracy and storms away, ignoring Whitacre's threats. On the street, Gallagher reunites with Eileen and hugs her gratefully.

After his confrontation with Gallagher, Whitacre enters a limousine with his Soviet counterpart, who asks him what their next step is. Before he can answer, their driver pulls over the car and executes both of the colonels, thus ensuring that any blame will fall on them and the remaining conspirators will not be exposed.

Production notes
Although the story takes place in Germany, Washington, D.C., Arlington, Virginia, and ends with numerous Chicago settings, the closing credits reveal it was shot entirely in Chicago and other locations in Illinois, as well as the Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten, Berlin.

Critical response
The Package holds a 65% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews.

Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, calling it "smarter than most thrillers".

Box office
In the United States and Canada, The Package grossed $10.6million at the box office, a net loss against its budget of $16million.