Deterrence (1999)

Low budget film-making is a prolific industry that produces a lot of movies each year. However, a lot of the time these films are not particularly good, often being horror or action B-movies or unambitious arthouse character dramas. In a minority of cases, the low budgets are overcome to produce a film more thoughtful and intelligent than the vast majority of films (whether low- or high-budget). Deterrence is one such movie.

After the sudden death of the previous president, Walter Emerson (Kevin Pollak) finds himself thrust into the role of the most powerful man on Earth, even if only for a few months until the 2008 presidential election. While campaigning in rural Colorado, Emerson finds himself stranded in a huge blizzard that forces him and his staff to take shelter in a local diner. With only a handful of satellite phones to keep him in contact with his government President Emerson finds himself having to manage an international emergency while trapped in the diner. The TV broadcast of the results of the presidential primary are interrupted by news that Iraqi leader Uday Hussein has invaded the neighbouring countries of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, slaughtering the token US/UN peacekeeping force. In a scarily topical twist he is also threatening to use mobile biological and chemical weapons against Israel and Turkey. The American military has been severely reduced in number and is mostly committed to defending Korea and Japan from an imminent Chinese invasion and there is no way for the American to respond to the invasion using conventional weapons. Emerson announces in an address to the nation that the only way to deal with Iraq is to threaten it with America’s nuclear arsenal. This provokes a horrified reaction from some of his staff – and the occupants of the diner – but merely provokes the Iraqis into increasingly escalating the conflict.

The entire film takes place on one set – the diner – with the TV news coverage providing some (occasionally unconvincing) stock footage of the conflict. Taking place in real-time it is an intriguing story of how people have to respond to world-changing events when they are given only a couple of hours to come up with a response. There are some audacious plot twists and a great deal of tension leading up to some surprising final revelations and a devastating conclusion. The film is deliberately morally ambiguous – it refuses to categorically say whether Emerson’s viewpoint or his adviser’s more cautious approach is correct, although the director’s personal opinion is apparently that Emerson’s actions are seriously wrong. Opinions will probably vary but most people will likely condemn Emerson’s actions, it is however possible to see what his motivation is (even if some crucial plot points are not given the necessary prominence in the script). Looking at other reviews many people seemed to have missed the point and regarded this film as an apology for military imperialism when in fact it is blatantly an anti-war film. Some of the plot developments are not entirely convincing but the plot is still topical and intelligent.

Given the small-scale confines of the set there isn’t much opportunity for fancy direction and some of the tricks used – like moving from black-and-white into colour – seem to be rather pointless gimmicks. The acting is excellent, particularly from Pollak who produces a measured performance despite being an unlikely candidate for playing the US President. Timothy Hutton as the president’s spin-doctor and Sheryl Lee Ralph as his national security adviser also produce particularly good performances but the rest of the cast does well, despite lacking any famous names apart from Sean Astin as a local redneck.

In summary, an intelligent, tense film that deserves much greater recognition.

Rating : 8 / 10

Click here to buy the DVD at Amazon.co.uk. Note that it's a Region 1 DVD as this hasn't been released on Region 2.

All content ©2003 William Marnoch.

Comments? Agree/Disagree with the Reviews? Suggestions? Random Ramblings? Whatever you might want to say, feel free to e-mail me at william@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk .