Directed By Kathryn Bigelow

Starring – Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Gabriel Basso

The Plot – When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.

Rated R for adult language

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE | Official Trailer | Netflix

POSITIVES

In the early 80’s, films like “Threads” and “The Day After” were inspired as a doomsday scenario, in order to de-escalate the rising tensions of a nuclear war between the United States and Russia, and while those films laid waste to a far more viscerally gruesome on-the-ground approach than Bigelow’s strategic-laced film here, it’s nevertheless a powder keg of pressure that continuously boils at four hundred degrees, conjuring no shortage of tension and suspense that brings this nightmare to life, before our very eyes. Like all of her films, Bigelow directs the hell out of this monumental conflict, not only towards articulating the individualized conflicts with its characters, which are put abruptly on hold to cater to the inevitable devastation that grows wilder by the second, but also in the immense responsibility that those in the many branches of government and armed forces face in the grimmest of possible outcomes, and while the film essentially deduces itself down to an ensemble of powerful characters staring at computer monitors and interacting in highly uncomfortable phone calls, Bigelow’s grasp of the material utilizes every square inch of the meaningful production to ratchet urgency to the engagement, articulating a pulse-rattling atmosphere that only grows more tense with the inevitability of what’s coming. Between Bigelow’s familiar stylized choices of the cinematography commanding a mockumentary brand of captivity, complete with auto-zooms and atmospheric surveilling, as well as razor sharp editing and intricate sound designs breeding a chorus of alarming noises that only further increase the tensions in so many over-speaking conversations, the film effortlessly immerses us in the abundance of stakes that couldn’t be bigger, aiming as close to authenticity and realism as any of us will hopefully ever experience in our lifetimes, alongside a audaciously daring script that is every bit entertaining as it is educational. Penned by former president of NBC News turned cinematic screenwriter, Noah Oppenheim, the film dutifully takes us throughout the ins and outs of the psychology dispersed between the many branches of defense within the war room, complete with on-screen text supplanting definition to the audience, in order to alleviate some of the jargon disconnect that a majority will have difficulty deciphering, and an overall outlining remarkability in the evidential flaws of the system that effectively illustrate the levels of hypocrisy and vulnerability that still linger prominently, despite us commanding the biggest and most destructive defense system in the entire world. If nothing else, the film emphatically conveys that we are one misunderstanding with foreign adversaries away from seeing all of this go up in flames, and perhaps as a means of those aforementioned films refusing to shy away from the irreversibly lasting impacts of those in charge, so too will Oppenheim, at a time when we’re the closest to an outbreaking war since the Cold War was put to rest. On top of this, the film also features a stacked ensemble of prestigious actors conjuring some meaningful dramatic work to the film’s integrity, specifically Rebecca Ferguson and Idris Elba, who each balance such commanding stoicism and humanity to important characters serving as the resiliency to their respective offices. While I prefer when a movie like this doesn’t use familiar actors, in order to make the investment feel all the more realistic, I can confidently say that this movie wouldn’t land as effectively as it does without the psychological unraveling of Ferguson during the opening act, particularly in the evolution of her character’s coming to terms with the forthcoming inevitability, which not only puts A strain on her ability to evoke maintained control over a desolate war room, but also zeroes in on Rebecca’s ability to convey sorrow and empathy to the candidness of her highly emotive facial registries. As for Elba’s history making turn, in which he has now acted as the British Prime Minister and United States President, in the same year, there’s a calming energy and patience to the nervousness of the situation that endears him as a beacon of hope to a movie reveling in the darkness, especially when he has exhausted all other avenues of resolution, and even considering that he’s essentially only present during the final forty minutes of the film, his involvement helps to somewhat enhance the appeal of what is undoubtedly the weakest section of the movie’s three act structure, proving his commanding versatility inside of dramatic waters, which he’s always been great at swimming through.

NEGATIVES

In terms of dwindled momentum, this is the second film in a week to adopt the individualized episodic structure of the same story persisting throughout the vantage points of three different characters, and while I wholeheartedly understand Bigelow’s intention was to cover as much of the blazed trail of responsibility and resolution as possible, I can’t exactly say the film’s entertaining integrity is better for it, especially in continuously subverting the expectations of the audience during the moments its underwhelming execution can be felt the loudest. The film should be considered an increasing ball of tense nerves, the longer it persists, and once it gets to the end of each act, it’s never paid off in any kind of satisfying or relieving kind of ways, instead shifting casually to the next arc, while taking us directly back to the near beginning of the narrative all over again, to what we previously already experienced. While the unresolved cliffhangers of the first two acts are bad enough, they pale in comparison to the abrupt drop-off during the movie’s ending, in which we’re merely given implication of what could or couldn’t of escalated, with a spontaneous title screen that will undoubtedly inspire groans from an audience asking if that’s really all that the movie could produce. Some will certainly appreciate the ambiguity of its resolution, almost as a way to evade exploitative imagery, but there’s certainly better ways to ride the climactic waves that the movie seamlessly produced in built tension to that point, especially considering the third act already wastes away so much of it on its own with an overextended throwaway basketball scene, surmising what is incredibly one of my least favorite endings of the year, from a director known for her roaring triumphs. Beyond the inferiorities of the structure, and an unfulfilling ending, the script also stumbles inconsistently on various avenues of its backstory in characterization, feeling condensed by the claustrophobia of the aforementioned structure, which makes it difficult for so many of them to stand out performatively and empathetically. When I think of this condemning aspect, I think about Anthony Ramos or Gabriel Basso, who each stare such overwhelming adversity in the face of their thankless jobs, yet can’t attain a semblance of consistency towards the illustration of their backgrounds, in order to get us closer to understanding them as people. Basso does receive one instance outside of the office, particularly in a taxi-cab with his girlfriend, but it’s so rushed and undissected compared to other scenes involving characterization, paling only to Ramos’ no-nonsense Major of Fort Greely, in which the only thing we learn about him is that he’s tasked with being responsible for detecting incoming threats.

OVERALL
“A House of Dynamite” is a heart-pounding political thriller of a doomsday scenario that reflects on the realities of nuclear threats and the irreversible consequences that stem from them. Despite being held captive by an episodic structure that wastes away some of the tension of Kathryn Bigelow’s powder keg direction with very little of a pay-off, the film maintains our undivided attention, on account of a stoic screenplay that isn’t afraid to ask the terrifying questions, but also spellbinding performances of a stacked ensemble forced to grapple with the air of inevitability, making it a cautionary tale of urgency to those who hold our lives in the palm of their hands.

My Grade: 7.4 or B-