A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

This nuclear thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow is certainly hard hitting.

A nuke appears over the Pacific, source indeterminate, and before you can say 'Dr Strangelove' it is heading for the continental USA (gulp).

Two interceptor missiles are launched, but the enormous amount of money spent on them appears to be poor value because one has a technical glitch and the other reaches its target but fails to blow up the incoming missile.

Shockingly that's it as far as Chicago is concerned; the 10 million inhabitants have about 15 minutes left to live, just about enough time for the US Secretary of Defense (Jared Harris) to have a final conversation with his daughter, before committing suicide by jumping off a tall building.  

I wasn't clear why more interceptor missiles aren't launched, except that we are told that the US has a limited supply so maybe they should be husbanded in case of further attacks.  But even so, surely Chicago is worth saving?

Especially since the likely consequence of Chicago being obliterated is that the US will feel obliged to retaliate, even if they're not sure who launched the attack.  North Korea?  China?

The unfortunate person who has to decide what action the US should take is of course the President (Idris Elba) and he can't take his time because the other nuclear powers will be taking immediate steps to protect themselves against US retaliation.

The film ends abruptly, a couple of minutes before Chicago is going to be hit, and just before the President announces what his decision is, which makes for a frustrating and unsatisfying conclusion. 

The events depicted only take some 30 minutes or so, and one of the points the film makes very effectively is how quickly things can escalate.  One moment the President is at a PR event at a basketball court and the next he is deciding whether to initiate nuclear Armageddon.

The film has a running time considerably longer than 30 minutes, which is achieved by twice repeating the sequence of events leading up to the President's decision, each time seeing things from a different person's perspective.  

Initially the main character we focus on is the duty officer in charge of the White House Situation Room, played by Rebecca Ferguson.  It was a major disappointment to me that she disappears from the film quite quickly, never to return. 

Another major character is the top US general, played by Tracy Letts.  Although he's not as obviously gung-ho as the George C Scott character in 'Dr Strangelove' he seems in favour of maximum retaliation, whatever the consequences.  

It's left to a fairly junior character, the Deputy National Security Advisor, to make the case for restraint.  When the President says that doing nothing is tantamount to surrender, the Advisor brutally says in that case the President's options are 'surrender or suicide'.

It's a scary film for sure, and one can only hope that the US defences are more robust than shown here.

However it's not a dramatically satisfying film, given the unresolved ending, and it left me wondering if it achieved anything more than 'Dr Strangelove' did over sixty years earlier, which is not only scary but is also very funny to boot. 

RATING: ✓ Cheers