Salaam - Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘A House of Dynamite’ fizzles out
Assalamu alaykum - it sounded promising on paper. A thriller about nuclear war with a script by Noah Oppenheim, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and featuring strong actors like Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Jared Harris and Gabriel Basso.
For roughly the first 20 minutes, the film holds up. We meet Captain Olivia Walker (Ferguson), who oversees the White House Situation Room, heading to work and being briefed on tense developments involving China, Iran and North Korea. Then a US early-warning system picks up an unidentified intercontinental ballistic missile already in flight over the Pacific. At first people assume it’s a North Korean test, so there’s no mass panic. But when the missile’s trajectory points to Chicago and it goes into low orbit, panic sets in. With under 20 minutes to impact and two ground interceptors failing, terrifying choices must be faced.
As the clock runs down, resignation spreads among those on the video conference between the Situation Room, the Pentagon and military commanders as they wait for the president (Elba) to decide how to respond to what looks like a nuclear attack that could kill tens of millions. With no clear culprit (both Russia and China deny involvement), can he order a retaliatory nuclear strike without risking further catastrophe or looking weak?
But the film then rewinds 20 minutes and retells the same events from other viewpoints - including Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Harris) - so snippets of dialogue from earlier make more sense as we hear the other sides. After another 20 minutes the perspective shifts again to the president and his circle. It’s a clever device, but is it really enough to carry a whole movie?
The premise is gripping and frightening - at least on the first viewing. Once you know the structure and outcomes, it’s harder to stay fully invested. With such limited time given to each moment, most of the talented cast don’t get to do much beyond basic performances. That creates a strange feel: despite the huge stakes, the film rarely creates real suspense.
In the end, A House of Dynamite feels, much like the missile defense depicted in it, like an expensive letdown.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/