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Deterrence (1998)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:17
Rotten:21
Average Rating:5.3/10
Synopsis: The year is 2008 and President Walter Emerson (Kevin Pollak) is stranded in a Colorado diner in the middle of a blizzard. Suddenly, news arrives that Iraq has invaded Kuwait, and threatens the rest... The year is 2008 and President Walter Emerson (Kevin Pollak) is stranded in a Colorado diner in the middle of a blizzard. Suddenly, news arrives that Iraq has invaded Kuwait, and threatens the rest of the Middle East with chemical and biological weapons. With most of the U.S. armed forces stuck in a tense military stand-off in Korea, the President decides he has only one option: he announces on television that he will launch a nuclear attack on Baghdad unless Iraq backs down. While the President's advisors try to figure out a diplomatic solution, the situation in the diner gets increasingly tense, and the global crisis escalates until global nuclear war is threatened. DETERRENCE is a tense military thriller with several unique twists and turns and an intelligent plot guaranteed to provoke debate. Director and former film critic Rod Lurie makes good use of a low budget thanks to imaginative direction and strong performances from the cast, including Timothy Hutton and Sheryl Lee Ralph as the President's advisors. While most thrillers are content to provide excitement, DETERRENCE combines tense political thrills with a subtle but strong position on global nuclear weapons. [More]
Starring: Kevin Pollak, Timothy Hutton, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sean Astin
Starring: Kevin Pollak, Timothy Hutton, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sean Astin, Clotilde Courau, Badja Djola, Mark Thompson, Uzi Gal, Kathryn Morris
Director: Rod Lurie
Director: Rod Lurie
Screenwriter: Rod Lurie
Producer: Mark Frydman, James Spies
Composer: Larry Groupe
Reviews for Deterrence
Lurie quickly glazes over one important bit of backstory in the early going, a point that is crucial to understand some motivation.
To it's credit, the film doesn't pull many punches . . .It really gets the message across that when you threaten someone with nukes, you'd better be ready to pull the trigger.
With a strong cast and smart script, Lurie conjures up an engaging scenario with little more than chicken wire and string.
he exciting thing about Deterrence is that *we* are the big scary bad guy who is acting irrationally - and yet the conclusion explains everything.
In order to get into this film, one must suspend a truckload of disbelief.
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