Unthinkable: How far would you go to protect your country?
Unthinkable - The Hollywood film that Hollywood doesn't want us to see.
A white Islamic extremist has hidden 3 nuclear bombs in nondescript locations throughout America, and threatens to set them off unless his demands are met.
The race is on to find the bombs before they go off anyway (by themselves), but here's the catch - the terrorist Yusuf (Michael Sheen) has helpfully decided to turn himself in for interrogation, fully expecting to be tortured in the process. The American government duly obliges, sending in special interrogator H (Samuel L. Jackson), one of their most extreme, sickest operative, willing to go to any measures necessary to "extract" crucial information.
FBI Special Agent Brody (Carrie Ann Moss) tags along as a moral anchor of the story, but finds herself increasingly powerless to act against H's form of extreme torture and methods.
And just in case you're still not sure what you're in for, one of the first things H does upon meeting Yusuf (formerly known as Younger), is to cruelly cut off one of Yusuf's fingers. This is torture with a capital T, graphic but not overly so, yet leaving us in no doubt as to what to potentially expect for the hapless Yusuf.
Carrie Ann Moss' Brody faces off H as played by Samuel L. Jackson, whose methods more than border on the unthinkable.
Who's the villain? Both Michael Sheen & Jackson are powerful in their respective roles as the tortured & the torturer.
The premise is astoundingly clear - just exactly how far would you go to save the lives of potentially millions?
Samuel L. Jackson & Carrie Ann Moss here present two different sides of the coin. H will stop at nothing, while Brody will maintain that there has to be a limit.
Stuck in between is the excellent Michael Sheen, the man who has to endure everything. The antagonist who set the stage, and yet also a protagonist of sorts, who shows us just how morally bankrupt we as a society can be.
As we cringe under Yusuf's sufferings at the hands of the relentless H, we have to constantly remind ourselves of the film's other unthinkable, the intentional murder of millions for a cause we can never truly understand. Sheen shows his character's fanatical side, yet is undeniably human in the way he responds to the threats and torture, while remaining committed to his cause.
But the truly unthinkable, the act that will make most audiences balk, is one that is so simple, yet so frightening that it crops up only at the climax of the film. Yet, if you had any sense of realism or an idea of what violence truly means, then you would probably guess it from a mile off.
It is not the film's fault however, for I truly believe that American audiences will not be able to take any further than what's presented in the film.
Which is why it is a pity the Unthinkable was released straight to video. The production value of the film is excellent, so that was never the problem. Instead, the film's disturbing content has proved its downfall. Nonetheless, it has presented a moral dilemma that is both apt and probably current. The pity is that American audiences are simply not mature enough to consider the film's implications.
Americans have to be portrayed as heroes, never as villains. Americans will never want to consider the lengths that one has to go to keep the "peace". But there is a difference between graphic violence, and the unthinkable - and that is something we have to think about....
! Strong Ensemble Cast: The three leads turn in strong performances, with a special nod to Michael Sheen for displaying both the fanatical and vulnerable side of his character with equal believability. Jackson is his usual frightening self, somewhat reminiscent of his portrayal in Pulp Fiction. Carrie Ann Moss betrays the empathy in her character beneath all that steel, which her character uses to make the most important decision in the film.
Query for:
? Flawed Script:Strangely enough, I am in no way slating the script, since I can understand the motivations behind those flaws. The film is quite well paced, but the flaws are a little glaring. Yusuf's obvious stupidity and naivety in turning himself in is a rather grandiose but necessary plot element (so he can be tortured). It is explained as his bid for martyrdom but seriously, he should have expected the outcome, though apparently it is unthinkable for him after all. That particular unthinkable is easy to anticipate, yet is only revealed at the end as a kinda twist, which of course falls somewhat flat if you were waiting for it to come all through the film....
? Straight to Video: Hello? It is a pretty good film and should deserve a run in the theatres. Boo America!
No comments:
Post a Comment