Katz5

A House of Dynamite easily joins the list of highly original and frightening movies about the the nuclear weapons era, alongside Testament, Threads, and maybe The Day After. Kathryn Bigelow and writer Noah Oppenheim (I had to double take the name as my eyes originally read it as Oppenheimer) created a thoughtful thriller, where the audience watches the same events unfold from three different perspectives. It is a storytelling approach employed by other directors like Stanley Kubrick, Quinten Tarantino, and Steven Soderbergh, and it is very effective for this movie.

A nuclear missile is launched from somewhere in Asia. The exact location is not known. All efforts to bring the missile down fail. The missile is scheduled to strike the city of Chicago in 20 minutes. That's the plot. But the film depicts the events first from the perspective of a military base in Alaska, where the missiles are launched to intercept and attempt to destroy the incoming missile (like a bullet finding and hitting another bullet, as one character explains) and the White House situation room; the second perspective from the Deputy National Security Advisor and other members of the President's military staff, who discuss the situation on various conference calls with the President; and then from the perspective of the President himself.

Imagine the predicament the characters find themselves in--the missile is launched and they have 20 minutes to try to intercept it and destroy it, determine the country from where the missile was launched, contemplate counter strikes, and figure out how, or even if, they should alert the citizens of Chicago. As a character explains, what could they possibly do to prepare for a strike in five minutes? This this is the most difficult position any U. S. President could find themselves in. And it takes a President with control and discipline not to immediately launch every missile and basically wipe out the planet.

And then there are two other possibilities: The missile turns out to be a dud and does not detonate after impact, or it's a hoax, or a "war game," to invoke the popular 1983 "what if" film.

Other reviewers who gave them film 1 star apparently craved to see the CGI-created destruction of a major U. S. city. There are plenty of other films that should satisfy that craving--pick any Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich film. Viewers familiar with the more controlled filmmaking style of Bigelow know better than to expect CGI. There is much ambiguity in the film, including the final shot. We are asked to fill in the blanks.

The cast is excellent. The highlights are Rebecca Ferguson, as the duty officer who's in charge of the White House situation room during the attack; her facial expressions convey the level of stress, confusion, and anguish while she tries to remain calm during the events. Gabriel Basso plays the Deputy National Security Advisor, suddenly called into the crisis management as the Senior advisor is having surgery. Basso's character attempts to maintain composure while explaining the options through his mobile phone, even while trying to get through the security gate at the White House. Idris Elba plays the President faced with the decision on how to handle the fate of the country and the planet. For the first two segments of the film, the President (who is not given a name in the film) is heard but not seen; the monitor in the Situation Room is blacked out, which is explained in the third segment.

This is a film not easily forgotten, unless you have expectations for something that it is not. Other reviewers even attacked the idea that the President's image was not seen on the monitor as the Secretary of Defense and others were. The nation was suddenly under attack. The President was making a high school appearance in a gym when the missile was launched. He was forced to communicate with others via a secured walkie talkie. Did other reviewers think he could magically beam himself back to the Oval Office or Mount Weather?

The final analysis: This is a realistic piece, not an explosive doomsday movie. It comes two years after Oppenheimer, the film about the man behind the bomb and who, at the end of that film, pondered the fate of humankind after realizing what he had created. This film depicts that outcome.

Quirky village comedy: A non-U. S. (typically a village in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, France, New Zealand, or in the case of The Dish, Australia) comedy set in a town or village populated by offbeat characters and odd, whimsical situations. Some classic examples of this mini genre are Il Postino, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain, Hear My Song, Waking Ned Devine, The Full Monty (more of an urban setting but still qualifies), and your choice of film from director Bill Forsyth (Gregory's Girl, Local Hero, Comfort and Joy). The Dish is the Australian entry that nicely fits in the subgenre, with a historical backdrop to boot.

Sam Neill headlines the film as the head aerospace engineer of a large satellite dish in the town of Parkes, Australia--the dish was the largest (at the time) in the entire southern hemisphere. The story is set during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The dish, installed in a sheep paddock (to add to the whimsy), played an instrumental role in providing the link from the mission, and eventually the live televised feed of the landing and moonwalk.

There are two crises in the film, one involving a power surge that requires the scientists to find the coordinates of Apollo 11 and reset the programming (using 1969 technology) as it approaches the moon's orbit. The second involves a sudden windstorm with gusts over 60 MPH, which make moving the gigantic dish dangerous (if the dish collapses it will kill all of the scientists onsite). But this film is not Apollo 13. These crises are mildly edge of your seat as the focus is on the characters.

In this mix of "g'day" Aussie scientists is an American from Houston sent from NASA to oversee and assist the Aussie scientists. At first he's a no-nonsense, stereotypical uptight stuff shirt bureaucrat, but he gradually loosens up, particularly after a savory and filling lunch of local lamb. The Aussies at the site besides Neill (who is actually from New Zealand but close enough...) are an assistant chief who resents the presence of the "cocky American," a brilliant young man who with an awkward crush on a local, charming young lady who brings meals and snacks to the men, and her brother, who is in charge of security for the grounds surrounding the dish.

There are some wonderful moments in the film, like when Glenn (the young scientist) tries to ask Janine, the young woman, out, and the relationship between the Parkes' mayor and his wife and daughter (who is being pursued by a goofy, military-obsessed guy of her own). There are even some laugh out loud moments, again based on the sympathetic characters in the film - there is not one devious character in the film. And perhaps that is one of the reason why it wasn't a success in the U. S. As an added bonus, the soundtrack is filled with hits of the era from the likes of Mason Williams, Oliver, Steppenwolf, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

After the turn of the century, American audiences tastes had changed. For independent films, they wanted darker, more complex, and cynical indie films like Memento (which was released in the U. S. around the same time as The Dish). Either the audiences who adored these offbeat small villager comedies stopped going to movies (leaving the box office returns to the Millennials), or they simply lost interest. The wonderful quirky comedies Saving Grace and Greenfingers were also released in 2000/2001, and did not have the success they would have had if released the previous decade.

The film's title may have also been a factor in its disappointing U. S. box office; but really, it's about as appropriate a title as it could be. Naming the film Apollo 11 could have tricked audiences that it was a historical drama like Apollo 13 (besides, an IMAX documentary containing real footage of Apollo 11 would be released in 2019).

The Dish remains an unseen (at least by most Americans) gem, one of the rare examples of this quirky villager comedies that has a true story at its core.

Much has already been said in other IMDb reviews about the foul language (uttered even by Chester A. Arthur!), the nudity, and the random sex. Take away these items and this 4-part mini series could be shown in high schools. But alas, those elements make the show feel more like Boardwalk Empire than a historical drama about James Garfield, who served the shortest Presidential term in US history (thus far).

The main reasons to watch the series (which is binge-worthy): The acting, by Michael Shannon of course, brilliant and low key as Garfield, but especially British actor Matthew Macfadyen, who just sinks into the role of the assassin Charles J. Guiteau. In fact, the series is really more about Guiteau, who was a dreamer , a hanger-on, and then a stalker, initially stalking Garfield because he believed the new President would truly be a man for the people, not just another political "hack." Eventually disillusioned, he continues to stalk the President, but not out of awe.

The four-part running time allows exposition, for both Garfield before his Presidency, and in particular Guiteau, the black sheep of an Illinois family and clearly suffering from assorted psychological problems. There are moments in the series that recall the breakdown of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, who had similar fixations on a populist political figure, albeit for different reasons.

The sex and nudity in the series mainly come from the religious (more like pagan) groups he falls into, including one in upstate New York where just as much time is spent fornicating (in barns and meadows) as reading the Bible.

Back to the city, though. Another actor of note is Shea Whigham, who plays boisterous, corrupt, vulgar (of course) and proud of it Congressman Roscoe Conklin. Whigham worked with Shannon in Boardwalk Empire and also appeared with him in the underrated film Take Shelter. As portrayed in the series, Conklin is a "MAGA" type 100+ years before MAGA was even a political proclamation. Money and power was what he was all about, and initially he had a willing accomplice by his side as his enforcer. The accomplice's name was Chester A. Arthur.

Comedian Nick Offerman turns in an unexpected and layered performance as Arthur, who is a thug in the first episodes, but after being chosen as Garfield's running mate, and then becoming Vice President, gradually reforms. Garfield explains to him that even after Arthur attempts to resign, he recognized "goodness under the bluster." Prior to his partnership with Conklin, Arthur was an advocate for social programs following the end of the Civil War. As the successor to Garfield, Arthur severed ties with his New York/Conklin past to become one of the first U. S. Presidents to tackle the Civil Rights issue.

The profanity and the sex aside, this is a generally absorbing mini series that if anything, could have been an episode or two longer.