Unthinkable (Extended Edition)
2/4
Starring: Carrie-Anne Moss, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen, Stephen Root, Holmes Osbourne, Martin Donovan
Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Torture, and Language
What would you do if you had a man in custody who claims to have three nuclear bombs in three American cities set to go off in three days? The U.S. Constitution doesn't allow a person to be tortured, but in this case, does the end justify the means?
It's the ethical question of our time (the Bush administration perpetuated the belief that this kind of situation happens every day). Director Gregor Jordan realized that this question could make a powderkeg of a movie, but unfortunately, his film doesn't exploit the situation effectively.
FBI agent Helen Brody (Moss) watches on the news that a man named Steven Arthur Younger (Sheen) is wanted for shooting a police officer and kidnapping two kids. But as she's wondering how she didn't get this information before the news did, she and her team are whisked away to a "location that doesn't exist." It turns out that the Defense Intelligence Agency has Younger in custody, but he's far more dangerous that Helen thought. Younger has created three nuclear weapons set to go off in three days, but he's not saying where they are. So the DIA brings in a specialist from hiding, named H (Jackson) who is willing to do anything to get him to talk. As Helen watches in horror at the torture she is witnessing, she finds her position against torture challenged as the clock ticks.
"Unthinkable" asks a number of questions. Is torture ever ethical? Does it actually work? Is it legal? The problem is that while these questions are provocative, they're not that original either. We've been asking ourselves these same questions after the horrors at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay were exposed.
Even on its own terms, the film doesn't work very well. The acting is of variable quality. Carrie-Anne Moss, who will be forever known as Trinity from "The Matrix" movies, is good, but not great. Another actress could have performed the role better. Samuel L. Jackson is surprisingly weak. Usually an impeccable and dynamic performer, Jackson's heart doesn't seem to be in this project and it shows. Michael Sheen, an underrated actor who can do just about anything, is excellent as Younger. Some scenes are incredibly shocking because of how good he is. Martin Donovan turns in a hammy performance and Holmes Osbourne is almost embarrassingly bad, but their roles are small.
But the real problem is the direction by Gregor Jordan. His work is stale and not very involving; I didn't particularly care whether they found the bombs or not. Surprisingly, Jordan seems to agree that the end justifies the means. I'm not blaming the film for that; everyone has their own opinion and because Hollywood is so liberal, we usually don't get opinions from the other side of the fence. I do however find fault with the ending because it's a cheat. It's a cheap shot that already hurts this heavily flawed film, although I heard that it's only on the Extended Edition.
Starring: Carrie-Anne Moss, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen, Stephen Root, Holmes Osbourne, Martin Donovan
Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Torture, and Language
What would you do if you had a man in custody who claims to have three nuclear bombs in three American cities set to go off in three days? The U.S. Constitution doesn't allow a person to be tortured, but in this case, does the end justify the means?
It's the ethical question of our time (the Bush administration perpetuated the belief that this kind of situation happens every day). Director Gregor Jordan realized that this question could make a powderkeg of a movie, but unfortunately, his film doesn't exploit the situation effectively.
FBI agent Helen Brody (Moss) watches on the news that a man named Steven Arthur Younger (Sheen) is wanted for shooting a police officer and kidnapping two kids. But as she's wondering how she didn't get this information before the news did, she and her team are whisked away to a "location that doesn't exist." It turns out that the Defense Intelligence Agency has Younger in custody, but he's far more dangerous that Helen thought. Younger has created three nuclear weapons set to go off in three days, but he's not saying where they are. So the DIA brings in a specialist from hiding, named H (Jackson) who is willing to do anything to get him to talk. As Helen watches in horror at the torture she is witnessing, she finds her position against torture challenged as the clock ticks.
"Unthinkable" asks a number of questions. Is torture ever ethical? Does it actually work? Is it legal? The problem is that while these questions are provocative, they're not that original either. We've been asking ourselves these same questions after the horrors at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay were exposed.
Even on its own terms, the film doesn't work very well. The acting is of variable quality. Carrie-Anne Moss, who will be forever known as Trinity from "The Matrix" movies, is good, but not great. Another actress could have performed the role better. Samuel L. Jackson is surprisingly weak. Usually an impeccable and dynamic performer, Jackson's heart doesn't seem to be in this project and it shows. Michael Sheen, an underrated actor who can do just about anything, is excellent as Younger. Some scenes are incredibly shocking because of how good he is. Martin Donovan turns in a hammy performance and Holmes Osbourne is almost embarrassingly bad, but their roles are small.
But the real problem is the direction by Gregor Jordan. His work is stale and not very involving; I didn't particularly care whether they found the bombs or not. Surprisingly, Jordan seems to agree that the end justifies the means. I'm not blaming the film for that; everyone has their own opinion and because Hollywood is so liberal, we usually don't get opinions from the other side of the fence. I do however find fault with the ending because it's a cheat. It's a cheap shot that already hurts this heavily flawed film, although I heard that it's only on the Extended Edition.
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