A House of Dynamite

Screened on Netflix

Although I haven't actively sang praises for director Kathryn Bigelow all that often, she's one of the better directors out there who I've paid attention to since her second film, 1987's Near Dark, a stylized, atmospheric and moody vampire road movie that remains a cult classic to this day. Since then she's directed other stellar entries in her filmography, from Point Break and Strange Days, to more serious, politically-tinged award-winners such as The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. The tradition continues here with this take on how things might go down for those in charge if a nuclear missile was fired towards the United States.

When this project was announced I couldn't have been more excited. Unlike her "war films," this subject matter was more up my alley and I was really looking forward to her take on something that could easily be seen in a season of television's 24. In other words, stepping up to the big leagues of cinema. I don't want to put too much emphasis on that, because overall I did like this film and I don't have a lot of criticisms really, but when I saw a comment on Letterboxd that simply said "CBS Fridays, 8/7c" it made me chuckle, even before giving this a watch. The film doesn't feel like that overall, but I do see where that thought stems from, and it's one of it's downsides which is this unfortunately doesn't match the quality of recent films that put Bigelow on the map, including being the first female to win a Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker.

But let's focus on the good. While it isn't the gripping nail-biter this subject should be, and Bigelow is more than capable of executing, it's all very interesting. Yes, this film is .... interesting. High praise indeed, I realize. But it is interesting, to see how this scenario would play out for the decision-makers, right to the moment of final decision on how to retaliate, or not retaliate at all. Perhaps it's just being a nerd for all things government that I find this enthralling, because reviews have been quite mixed. And I can see why. While personal stories are threaded throughout, and we see how those are conflicting for those in charge during the most critical moments for them, their country, and the planet itself, I wasn't totally feeling the stakes. At times, yes, but not enough to make this as outstanding as it could be. While not my criticism, I am more than certain people do not like how this ends, and I think that's fair. There is a LOT of build-up, but the fruits of their labor are not born out on screen. For me that's the right way to end it, and in that sense, that's Bigelow at her best. But it's no crowd-pleaser.

I will say though at its conclusion, I got off the couch, my safe place while watching a story that rings all too true these days, and I went out my front door to see if a package I was awaiting had arrived. Sunny as ever, but also quiet. Very quiet as it can be out in the desert. And suddenly the film hit me a bit more. I just stood there and looked out at the quiet, empty street. The mountains in the background. Everything lit up so bright by the mid-day sunshine. And that's when I got a bit freaked out. Looking at how beautiful even the most mundane things can be, like my neighbor's Halloween display, and thinking how right now at this moment, ESPECIALLY in the moment we're all living through today, the film's scenario could be playing out, and how everything I was looking at could, in theory, be gone in an instant. Within an hour even, it could all be eviscerated. Maybe it wasn't the film itself exactly that put me in that headspace, but it did leave a mark, because she at least made this scenario feel very plausible, even if the smaller aspects were fleshed out completely. For that reason, in the times we're living, I recommend checking this out.