Deterrence (2000)

Aside from the acting, this is a laughable movie on just about every level.The President (un-elected) overrides every fail-safe, in spite of being advised otherwise including the legality of taking such action, to drop an atomic bomb on Iraq.The President finds himself in a diner, trying to negotiate with the Iraqi leaders while using an interpreter who hasn't been properly trained or vetted. He takes time to ask the opinions of people in the diner as time runs-out.At one point, the cook in the diner pulls-out his shotgun (which wasn't discovered by the weapons- search conducted by the Presidents' Secret Service detail of two) and shoots the Airman carrying the "football," injuring him. As he continues to point it at the wounded Airman, the two Secret Service agents allow him to fire a second round before ending his threat (with a now-empty double-barrel shotgun).The ending is just dumbfounding... Apparently the President, along with the French President, are the only two who KNOW that the weapons they sold to Iraq are dummies and won't arm. This is played-out as a great winning scheme by the President, as he nukes Iraq while watching their dummies fall fairly harmlessly in neighboring countries.I think this could've been a very good movie, had it been based more on fact than just the silly twist at the end. The bottom-line is that the President NEVER needed to drop a nuke on Iraq; he KNEW they were mostly defenseless. The world would probably stand behind a President who called their bluff. Then, they could easily be dealt with conventionally.

I sat through this dreck on a boring Friday night.It's another one of those exercises in frustration. Does this film try to uphold American patriotic jingoism or is it a send-up? Both at once? Neither? It ain't good when a movie this overtly political only confuses the viewer with its message.If THAT is the intent, doesn't the film fail completely? From a dramatic standpoint, the film's setting in a remote location--a diner in a small, snowbound Colorado town--is an excellent premise, as is the de rigeur ensemble cast. (The screenplay would stand better as a stage play: few props, stark lighting.) But that's about all that can be said that's positive. One of the craziest details of the story (among several others that are downright LAUGHABLE) is the "100-megaton" weapon dropped from a bomber aircraft on Baghdad. One hundred megatons? The former Soviet Union developed and tested a 57-megaton weapon in 1961. The weapon was so outsized that its carrier plane needed modification to its bomb bay doors just to get the thing off the ground. Furthermore, the largest weapon ever in use in the U.S. arsenal was 9 megatons, and it has been phased out for smaller bombs.So, yes, the bomb sure went off on this one. Don't bother.

One day a United States President will have to make this choice. This movie has the potential of fiction turning reality of any movie before its time. While the idea of using a nuclear device is something that no one wants, with the evil that plagues this world, this decision will be made. My only hope is that if this happens, it is for the right reason, (Such as facilitating the end of World War II.) Kevin pollack is very believable as a president, Timothy Hutton and and Sheryl Lee Ralph make for convincing advisers. And as a side note, the opening of the movie in black and white was a very nice touch, graphically. As far as the drawbacks, Sean Astin is usually very good, but his character was atrocious. This is a must watch for anyone to see how the world can change in the matter of hours. This has quickly become one of my favorite movies of all time. Watch this movie!

I saw this movie based on one fact only...I had never heard of it and the theatre didn't even have a one sheet for it (one never knows what gems can be found in the unknown) immediately after seeing it I rounded up some friends a took them to see it. This was a very smart screenplay. It could well have been a hint of things to come in the middle east had the events of Sept.11, 2001 not sped up our concentrated involvement in that area. It still, however, shows some dilemmas caused by that areas prejudices between groups. In the film Iraq re-invades Kuwait as a novice "unelected" president tries to handle the situation from a remote location in the Colorado Mountains during a blizzard. Iraq points some chemical weapons at their neighbors- or are they nukes bought from the French who got them from us?? Now the talk gets tough except our president is Jewish and the Iraqis won't parlay with a Jew- while some on his staff insists he not say anything on an unsecured phone line.Of course I'm no film student so my view of the real world is tainted with realism such as intelligent people working in mundane jobs or that people with IQs of 105 can be enlightened about some limited fields such as societal woes or the horror of nuclear fallout. I admit there is a kind of "who done it" ending that wraps everything up in a brief monologue by Kevin Pollack with which I was not entirely comfortable. However, it does put a slant on ones thinking in so far as our on again off again real life political relationship with the French is concerned. I loved this movie!! I enjoyed this drama as much as the unfolding tension surrounding The Contender(another Rob Lurie film) and though I am hardly a Rob Lurie fan (I thought The Castle sucked beyond dry) I have kept his name in my memory since my first viewing of Deterrence waiting for any other gem he may write...or direct. To me- it was that good!!