The Peacemaker

Rating:
Summary: Smart Thriller with Guts
Review: George Clooney makes his big screen debut in this action political thriller about a man who gets his hands on a nuclear device and has deadly intentions for the city of New York.

Playing a tough break-all-the-rules special ops Colonial Thomas Devoe, he pursues the would be terrorist with help from Washington aid and nuclear specialist Julia Kelly, played with spunk by Nicole Kidman who once again adds her own classic touch to a character who could have otherwise been very boring. The plot can sound awfully clichéd and non-intellectual. But thankfully director Mimi Leder (Deep Impact & an E.R. regular) handles this movie with undeniable originality. Thanks to a realistic script where all actions DO have consequences, Kelly constantly reminds Devoe that there is protocol to follow.

The action scenes are good and keep you on the edge of your seat. But the real surprise is the plot of how the terrorist gets the bomb into the country. Although it probably would not work today in post 9-11, it is frightening to see how the process unfolds. No special technology, no gimmicks or tricks with the equipment. Just finding loopholes in the system. I won't state detail to keep from ruining the movie.

Clooney and Kidman have great chemistry together and the casting of the main villain with a no name casual character with sincere motives is an original twist. No spouting dialogue of vengeance or over the top characters. Kidman (once again with an American accent) is sharp and poignant. Clooney is a sensible if not egocentric action hero who tries to play by the rules at first but seems to end up using unorthodox tactics.

This movie is something between a popcorn flick and an intelligent thriller, melding action with smart and concise dialogue that will make you think. Highly recommended.



Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Stupid and Poorly Researched
Review: Perhaps I shouldn't write this review, as I didn't even finish watching the movie (it was SO BAD, that on a rainy sunday I STILL didn't have time, for it). Thank goodness I was loaned this DVD and didn't pay a dime.

Anyone who thinks this film is "good" has an extreme talent for ignoring bad plots and poor research, has no military experience, and is otherwise completely out to lunch. To say that this film requires an EXTREME "suspension of disbelief" is an understatement.

Clooney was better in E.R. (and that doesn't say much) and Kidman is a huge disappointment after her more recent sucesses. Both are unbelievable in this role, and other than the fact that they were really stupid to take the part, it isn't even really their fault... it's just a really horribly written movie.

The first ten minutes kind of have the feel of "Spies Like Us" melodramatic and plasticky, you actually expect something funny to happen. Then the "G.I. Joe" sequences begin, and as long as you don't expect anything to make ANY sense, or to have any realism, you'll probably like it. Ooooh, Aaaaah!!! Big Explosions!

The antithesis to a "thinking" movie that requires viewer participation, this requires a lobotomy to enjoy. I actually ran the DVD back a few times wondering if I had missed something, since SURELY those gaping, yawning plot holes couldn't REALLY be there... but alas, the fabric of this movie has the consistency of cheese cloth.

Don't waste your time.


Rating:
Summary: All action nonsense
Review: This is great stuff if you're a 15-year-old male. All action, a thousand people die, and the hero and heroine come through with scratches. Car chase. Gore. The usual. Except that the idea of young Ms. Kidman as a top governmental official reporting only to the President is exceptionally ludicrous.

Rating:
Summary: Hooks you from the very first scene
Review: I never get tired of seeing this movie. I'm so glad I bought the DVD. This is a model what an action-suspense-politcal thriller should be.

Basically Clooney and Kidman are trying to track down stolen nuclear warheads ripped off by a formenr Soviet general and for sale on the open market.

I can't think of anything I disliked about this movie. The plot was chilling, it made "Sum of all Fears" look like a kids cartoon in comparison. Clooney and Kidman had spectacular chemistry and played their parts to the hilt.

By the time you finish this movie you'll be out of breath. It has a nightmare inducing beginning, the most spectacular car chase I've ever seen in a movie with Clooney ending it with a cold and hard finish as I've ever seen. Watch Kidman through this whole thing, her reactions are perfect.

Plus the terrorist villan was not some faceless unknown manic bent of gratuitious destruction. You actually felt for the villan, maybe even understood what drove and motivated him. What a great change for the normal way these guys are portrayed in films.

The ending is pulse-pounding sorry to overuse that phrase but it fits perfectely. Not only that it was the most accurate portrayal of defusing a bomb I've ever seen, it was truly edge-of-your-seat stuff. They did none of that "red wire - green wire" sillness you see way too often in films. This was realistic folks, believe me it was very authentic. So much so I can understand if the less technically oriented viewers would be confused with the climactic ending as to what actually happened. But it was realistic.

I rate this even a better film than Black Sunday, and for me thats saying a lot.

Heck I think I'll watch it again later.








Rating:
Summary: Kidmans stuffs up yet another film
Review: Sorry, just can't like Kidman in anything she does. She pouts and poses her way through this, no wonder Clooney wants to piss her off and takes every opportunity to do so. Clooney is his usual likeable and capable self and Kidman tries oh-so-hard, but a Nuclear Physicist??? Oh, please. All that's missing is a BMX bicycle. Marcel Iures is casting brilliance - when does the viewer ever feel any sympathy for a "terrorist"? But here one does. And he's not portrayed as a mindless fruitloop, which is a great change, but someone to sympathise with, even though you know he's still the bad guy. Shame the device hadn't been shoved in Kidman's knickers before it went off.

Rating:
Summary: A 5-star, funny, eye-candy, politcal thriller action movie
Review: vie buff alert: An action film by a female director: Mimi Feder. Three (count'em) 3 non-US stars (yes STARS): Amin Mueller-Stahl, a remarkable East German actor playing the charming Russian general. Marcel Iures plays a compelling, multi-faceted Bosnian and sympathetic villan. Maybe he's actually playing the piano too, with an appropriately plaintif piece. The third foreign star isn't human: it's the silver Mercedes.

Then there're the two American stars, Clooney and Kidman.

The movie deals with serious issues: Post Cold War Russia's generals selling nuclear arms for personal profit, Bosnian snipers motivating a terrorist threat of a back-pack nuke in New York City. Listen for the Bosnian's video-taped final testament -- very well done and insightful.

Funny dialog gives welcomed relief. Unexpected action segments make this movie entertaining on many levels. Watch for Clooney's plan to get information out of a black market shipper.

Rating:
Summary: Basically, George Clooney portraying Oliver North
Review: I've owned this movie for years. I seem to find myself reaching for it whenever I can't make up my mind on what to watch. I think it is George Clooney's finest film. I'm an avid action movie fan and this one just never gets old. There are very few slow spots and even they add to the story instead of leaving you sighing because you want it to get on with it. I don't usually review movies but this is one that I feel pretty strongly about. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys movies that you want to watch more than once.