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My only reason to knock off 1/2 stars,is technical.See I believe that movies are visual and magic,therefore since this movie is essentially a one act PLAY on film,I had to deduct the 1/2 star.That said,it's tight and well acted and being made in 2000 at 104 minutes has a real feeling of tense suspense and a pay off that would make Kennedy conspiracy theorists grin.
The play,er,movie begins as a incumbent president,played by comedian Kevin Pollack,( who can forget his impersonations of William Shatner playing Capt.Kirk?),in as fine a serious performance as can be imagined,is out in Colorado on a primary trip as a freak snow storm hits trapping him in a backroads dinner.OK,I know that premise is wacked,but they make it sound believable enough.So the dinner has 5 folks in it and the presidents group has 7.Thats 12 people trapped,enough for some interpersonal drama as it is.BUT wait !!
As the group settle in watching TV ( yes the TV works in the blizzard of all time)they are told by the news that Iraq under the leadership of Quiday Hussein has invaded Kuwait again killing a 300 UN peacekeeping forced staffed by americans.The President has a secure satellite hookup made to the Pentagon to find out first hand whats going on rather than see it on TV .How many times have we heard athletics complain about hearing they were traded that very way !!!Anyway we learn that the president running for election was never elected the first time,rather the elected president died of illness in office and as vice-president he assumed the office.After a few tense appraisals of the situation including the circumstance fact there was a build up of US forces in Korea fearing Chinese instigating the North to maybe invade the South,no US conventual forces are in range of this 500K Iraq invasion force except for a lone carrier.The President states the young Hussein is the same as his old man and a slap on the wrist won't work this time.In the presidents group in a TV camera man and by satellite hookup the President has the TV network camera man send a exclusive live broadcast to the world that Iraq has 1 1/2 hours to withdraw or the US will nuke Bagdad.Now remember this was made in 2000 and well it seems sort of prophetic in the sense this President has a black woman secretary of State traveling with him (Sheryl Lee Ralph)and it is after all Iraq.Let the conspiracy theorists have at it.The premise of the US using a nuke may be distasteful to many but to me the circumstance seems slightly plausible as presented in the film.There is a homage to the earlier made cold war classic that i'll review at a later date,"Fail Safe"in the interpreter scenes as well as the Nuke first strike option.Now I said there was interpersonal drama and the one that remains long after you have viewed the film,is of the dinners black owner/cook (Badja Djola)using a hidden shotgun to kill the white air force officer (J. Scott Shonka)carrying "the football"in a vein attempt to not let this happen on "my watch"he in turn is killed by the 2 secret service agents.After consultation with the pentagon in a scene that easily could have killed the darkly serious tone the film is taking,the president is told as the case is finally opened that he must do a retina scan but they cannot be sure the scan device wasn't damaged.The President asks whats the worse that can happen,and is told,lasers will shoot out of the device blinding him.As he scans he's asked whats happening,and he replies,"well I can see".Under the wrong direction the film might have have been lost to snickers,but Pollack pulls it off.
Meanwhile Iraq now warns the President that they have 23 launch-able nukes they will fire if the US enters Iraq air space since they have been threatened.Now as in Fail Safe I think you know the US WILL nuke Bagdad,however the 23 nukes targeting the US,2 from Libya,are ether shot down or land with a thud,not a bang.Conspiracy theorists can now have a field day not so much with the films explanation of why no explosions but what it represents in TODAYS world of back room deals and secrets.You may or may not like this film,but you will remember it for quite awhile in lieu of our current involvement in the middle east compared to a the much less (or was it) envelopment when this film was made.
Its also interesting to see Sean Astin play a hick in the dinner and Timothy Hutton playing the campaign manager.They both have clever lines and parts.
Must see if your into current world affairs and politics/ conspiracy.
Trailer URL below picture.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O18NW6/ref=atv_feed_catalog&tag=imdb-amazonvideo-20
The play,er,movie begins as a incumbent president,played by comedian Kevin Pollack,( who can forget his impersonations of William Shatner playing Capt.Kirk?),in as fine a serious performance as can be imagined,is out in Colorado on a primary trip as a freak snow storm hits trapping him in a backroads dinner.OK,I know that premise is wacked,but they make it sound believable enough.So the dinner has 5 folks in it and the presidents group has 7.Thats 12 people trapped,enough for some interpersonal drama as it is.BUT wait !!
As the group settle in watching TV ( yes the TV works in the blizzard of all time)they are told by the news that Iraq under the leadership of Quiday Hussein has invaded Kuwait again killing a 300 UN peacekeeping forced staffed by americans.The President has a secure satellite hookup made to the Pentagon to find out first hand whats going on rather than see it on TV .How many times have we heard athletics complain about hearing they were traded that very way !!!Anyway we learn that the president running for election was never elected the first time,rather the elected president died of illness in office and as vice-president he assumed the office.After a few tense appraisals of the situation including the circumstance fact there was a build up of US forces in Korea fearing Chinese instigating the North to maybe invade the South,no US conventual forces are in range of this 500K Iraq invasion force except for a lone carrier.The President states the young Hussein is the same as his old man and a slap on the wrist won't work this time.In the presidents group in a TV camera man and by satellite hookup the President has the TV network camera man send a exclusive live broadcast to the world that Iraq has 1 1/2 hours to withdraw or the US will nuke Bagdad.Now remember this was made in 2000 and well it seems sort of prophetic in the sense this President has a black woman secretary of State traveling with him (Sheryl Lee Ralph)and it is after all Iraq.Let the conspiracy theorists have at it.The premise of the US using a nuke may be distasteful to many but to me the circumstance seems slightly plausible as presented in the film.There is a homage to the earlier made cold war classic that i'll review at a later date,"Fail Safe"in the interpreter scenes as well as the Nuke first strike option.Now I said there was interpersonal drama and the one that remains long after you have viewed the film,is of the dinners black owner/cook (Badja Djola)using a hidden shotgun to kill the white air force officer (J. Scott Shonka)carrying "the football"in a vein attempt to not let this happen on "my watch"he in turn is killed by the 2 secret service agents.After consultation with the pentagon in a scene that easily could have killed the darkly serious tone the film is taking,the president is told as the case is finally opened that he must do a retina scan but they cannot be sure the scan device wasn't damaged.The President asks whats the worse that can happen,and is told,lasers will shoot out of the device blinding him.As he scans he's asked whats happening,and he replies,"well I can see".Under the wrong direction the film might have have been lost to snickers,but Pollack pulls it off.
Meanwhile Iraq now warns the President that they have 23 launch-able nukes they will fire if the US enters Iraq air space since they have been threatened.Now as in Fail Safe I think you know the US WILL nuke Bagdad,however the 23 nukes targeting the US,2 from Libya,are ether shot down or land with a thud,not a bang.Conspiracy theorists can now have a field day not so much with the films explanation of why no explosions but what it represents in TODAYS world of back room deals and secrets.You may or may not like this film,but you will remember it for quite awhile in lieu of our current involvement in the middle east compared to a the much less (or was it) envelopment when this film was made.
Its also interesting to see Sean Astin play a hick in the dinner and Timothy Hutton playing the campaign manager.They both have clever lines and parts.
Must see if your into current world affairs and politics/ conspiracy.
Trailer URL below picture.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O18NW6/ref=atv_feed_catalog&tag=imdb-amazonvideo-20
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