A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Katheryn Bigelow
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Jason Clarke, Gabriel Basso, Greta Lee, Jonah Hauer-King, Moses Ingram, Brian Tee, Malachi Beasley, Brittany O’Grady, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Willa Fitzgerald, Kaitlyn Dever.
Fail Safe for the new millennium?
A nuclear missile has been fired from an unknown launch site and is headed for the United States.
At Fort Greely, a US base in Alaska, Major Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos, from Hamilton, etc) detects the unidentified missile. At first he thinks it is a test fire by North Korea. But the missile is on a trajectory that will take it over the US. He authorises the launch of two defensive rockets to intercept the missile, but one fails to launch and the misses. The nuclear missile continues on its trajectory moving rapidly towards Chicago.
In the White House Situation Room senior analyst Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson, from Mission: Impossible, etc) and Admiral Miller (Jason Clarke, from Zero Dark Thirty, etc) monitor threats to the country. They juggle the flow of information as they try to understand this new crisis they face. Olivia is also worried about her own family, especially her sick young son. There is a phone communication hook up with the US Strategic Command Centre, where the gung-ho General Brady (playwright Tracy Letts) monitors the missile, and urges the President’s staff to retaliate.
Deputy National Security Advisor Jake Baerington (former child actor Gabriel Basso, from Super 8, etc) has a different opinion and urges restraint. He is urgently trying to negotiate with the Russian government’s Foreign Secretary, who denies any involvement in the missile launch. At the Pentagon, Secretary of Defence Reid (Jared Harris) is distracted, worried about his estranged daughter who lives in Chicago. Meanwhile the President (Idris Elba, channeling Obama) is giving an inspirational speech to a group of basketball players in an arena. The President is whisked away from the event and discusses options with Commander Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King, from the live action remake of The Little Mermaid, etc) his warrant officer who carries the book of nuclear strike options and launch codes and potential targets. With time rapidly running out the President has to make a choice.
This meticulously constructed thriller and its countdown to nuclear Armageddon plot marks Kathryn Bigelow’s first film in eight years (her first since the little seen 2017 film Detroit). A House Of Dynamite is filled with tension and infused with a sense of urgency as the scenario unfolds seemingly in real time. The film unfolds in four chapters exploring the different responses to the crisis, depicting the same 18 minutes from different perspectives. The film was written by former journalist Noah Oppenheim and is heavy with military speak, acronyms, and lots of technical jargon, but it reeks of authenticity.
As with her previous military themed films – the Oscar winning The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, which depicted SEAL Team 6’s raid to capture Osama Bin Laden – Bigelow’s direction is muscular and visceral. With the rapid editing of Oscar winner Kirk Baxter (The Social Network, etc) Bigelow gives the film an almost documentary-like realism. Regular cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker, etc) gives the film its documentary-like feel. And Volker Bertelmann’s ominous score further enhances the mounting tension.
Bigelow has assembled a strong ensemble cast to bring the characters to life. The supporting cast also includes Greta Lee (Tron: Ares, etc), Kaitlyn Dever, Moses Ingram, Brian Tee.
A House Of Dynamite has been produced by Netflix, but the film is gaining a brief two-week cinematic release before becoming available on streaming.
★★★★
