mossgrymk

An update of 1964's "Fail Safe" with a dash of "Dr. Strangelove" thrown in courtesy of Tracy Letts' performance as the very hawkish joint chiefs head, only better because Kathryn Bigelow is one of the best action directors around today, the true heir to Raoul Walsh, Don Siegel, and the Scotts (i.e. Ridley and Tony).

Like. All good action films it hooks you very early on, in the scene at the missile detection center in Alaska where an errant nuke is first spotted heading for Chicago, and any quibbles you may have had about certain plot points, and I had several, in Noah Oppenheim's generally good script are forgotten as you are taken on a ride (actually three rides in this multi point of view film) that is perfectly paced by Bigelow, fast enough to keep you on the edge of your couch but not so fast that you miss certain wonderful ironies that are the best parts of Oppenheim's screenplay such as the juxtaposition of the reanactment of the massively destructive battle of Gettysburg with impending nuclear annihilation or the fact that in this super tech age none of the gadgets, from phones to anti missle missles, seem to work properly. And while the ending struck many of my IMDB colleagues as a cop out I felt it was in keeping with the kind of film this is, namely a cautionary tale rather than a disaster or pure suspense flic, although there is plenty of the latter.

The large ensemble cast is wonderful. If there is nothing even close to a dead spot in the film there is, as well, not a bad performance. I especially liked Idris Elba's take on a president woefully unprepared for the situation into which he is thrust, trying to be calm but not succeeding and balancing fear and responsibility in equal measure. I also liked Rebecca Ferguson's NSC staffer who does what Elba cannot, that is be a calm center in the storm. And Jared Harris is excellent as the emotionally unstable Defense Secretary, although his pulling a James Forrestal toward the end struck me as the film's weakest moment (I'm not a fan of gratuitous movie suicides).

Bottom Line: Even though it's not exactly timely...our biggest threat right now is from within the White House, not without...this is a must see if you like movies that move. A minus.

...and since it is based on a Joan Didion novel it lays pretty damn bleakly with every character in it being either weak, selfish, cruel and, most of all, lost. And of course, since it's emotional emptiness that is the theme, the setting just has to be Hollywood, Vegas and, most tritely of all, the desert. It would be tempting to consign it to Antonioni wannabe status and move on, but that would be dishonest since I actually watched the whole thing and, unlike its siblings in depression "Zabriskie Point" and "Leaving Las Vegas", found not only that I was interested in Maria, BZ, Carter, Helena and the other lost souls on display but cared about them as well. Kudos to Tammy Grimes, Adam Roarke, Anthony Perkins and especially Tuesday Weld who is in damn near every scene but who never wears out her welcome thanks to her ability to provide just enough wry humor and compassion so that her character isn't just wandering around looking alienated as a lesser actor would do. And as long as I'm passing around compliments how about one to director Frank Perry for his fast pacing that keeps the film from stalling out? Give it a B.

Not up to William Wyler's usual standards, in my opinion. The whole thing has the stiff, airless feel of a filmed stage play, a trap this great director managed to avoid with the earlier, much better "The Heiress" which, although based on a theatrical work like this film, had cinematic movement and flow. Also, the various plot lines, featuring shop lifting, burglary and an abortion mill doc, lack dramatic intensity. You'd think with a film called "Detective Story" that we'd have at least one serial killer, for cryin out loud. Completing the trifecta of upper level mediocrity is acting from Kirk Douglas, Lee Grant in her debut, and Joseph Wiseman that is over the top. Faring better are William Bendix and Horace McMahon, the latter looking like he's warming up for his role of the crusty captain in "Naked City". And Lee Garmes' cinematography is properly urban realistic. Give it a C plus.