Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Clarke
Running Time: 112 minutes
Synopsis: An intercontinental ballistic missile is spotted heading towards the United States. Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) leads the response in the White House Situation Room, and the missile's target is identified as Chicago. From Alaska's Fort Greely, interceptor missiles are fired, while the President (Idris Elba) and the Secretary of Defence (Jared Harris) consider their options. Advice is provided by Deputy National Security Advisor Baerington (Gabriel Basso), who urges restraint, and General Brady (Tracy Letts), who argues for an overwhelming response.
What Works Well: The film repeats the same events from three different perspectives: the first focused on the Situation Room, the second on General Brady and Advisor Baerington, and the third accompanying the President. The construction is interesting and promotes a fill-in-the-gaps narrative, marginal characters in one run-through emerging as key players in the next. The production values are excellent, and the escalating tension of a potentially catastrophic situation carries Fail-Safe echoes and builds undeniable momentum.
What Does Not Work As Well: While the attempts to humanize imperfect characters are appreciated, there are too many of them to matter, and ultimately an inordinate amount of time is wasted on trinkety personal details. Some segments, including the chaotic reactions at FEMA, simply don't work. The Noah Oppenheim script is only interested in the US perspective of a global crisis, purposefully allowing fundamental questions (who, why) to float by answered in service of here-and-now urgency. The unsettling ending can be justified within the definition of the portrayed events, but is nevertheless deeply unsatisfactory.
Key Quote:
General Brady: We've already lost one American city, sir. How many more do you want to risk?
The President: What kind of fucking question is that? That's insanity, okay?
General Brady: No, Mister President. That's reality.
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