Deterrence

I had seen the trailer for this movie a couple of months back, before the events of the last month, and I knew then that I wanted to see the movie. This weekend, I watched it and was shocked at how amazing it was.

Almost paralleling the events of the past couple of months, in the film, the current President (Pollock) must deal with rising problems with North Korea, and the sudden invasion of Kuwait by Saddam's son, who is the current military leader of Iraq. Finding his hands tied, the President issues a warning to the Iraqi leader: leave Kuwait and power down your weapons of mass destruction, within two hours, or else you and your city will be hit with a nuclear bomb.

After this threat, the film does into high pressure tension mode. Will the President keep his promise? Is he bluffing? And what is going to happen if he does use a nuclear bomb against his enemies?

Trust me, this is a film that will NOT disappoint.

You should see this movie, it is interesting and entertaining. It reminds me of the Cuban Missile Crisis and another conflict with another country. It was good especially since it seemed like a low budget film due to the only setting through the movie was in the Diner.

I must admit I had to see the film twice to appreciate all the detail that was included. This is one man's vision, Rod Lurie, since he wrote, directed and produced the film and the more that I watch it, the more I appreciate what was done. The problem with this type of film is that most people will not be able to give it the attention it deserves.

I can't complain about the casting or the acting, since the actors stayed true to the vision of the film. The story is riveting and full of surprises and with a fine touch of comic relief. The most interesting thing for me about the film is that it's completely relevant for today (2002), which is when I discovered it.

Don't watch this with your significant other when you want to snuggle. It's disturbing, engrossing and most definitely provocative.

Deterrence is one of those small little films that leaves a huge impression. Like The War at Home, a post-Vietnam war drama starring Emilio Estevez, Deterrence received a very minor release, but will end up being one of the year's best films. Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects, Grumpy Old Men) stars as the President of the United States. Pollak, however, was not elected, but was appointed Vice President and then took over after the death of the President. Forced to stay in a Colorado diner because of a blizzard, Pollak and his 2 most trusted assistants, played by Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, Playing God) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Bogus, White Man's Burden) find out about an illegal invasion into Kuwait by Sadaam Hussein's son. After some thought Pollak goes on National Television and announces a deadline for Hussein to leave or Pollak will drop a nuclear bomb on Baghdad. The whole film takes place inside this diner and relies on the tension that builds up as they get closer and closer to the deadline and as Pollak has to weigh his decision hearing arguments from both sides. The film is fascinating thanks to a strong amount of tension built up as we truly wonder what is going to happen. Hutton and Ralph are both solid as the 2 assistants, but the film belongs to Pollak and his strong lead performance. Highly recommended.

This 1999 film features an appointed Vice President who assumes Presidential power upon the death of the President -- ergo, a completely unelected President. Interesting concept but more importantly, the basic plot has this President forced to face a major crisis in Iraq when all of his diplomatic and military power is concentrated on a crisis in Korea. Somebody must be reading this script in Washington right now -- but they switched the locations.

At any rate, all of the ranting negative reviews and the flowery positive reviews I have seen here on IMDB about this film seem to me to miss the point. What happens in the film is of limited note compared to very strange feeling of "deja now" watching this film in February, 2003 while watching its big brother on CNN live. See this film! It's interesting, a bit disturbing, and sightly prescient (only partially I hope).