A House of Dynamite

The second movie in the double feature at the Broadway with my nephew last night was A House of Dynamite and it is incredibly tense and thought-provoking if ultimately anti-climactic.  The launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from an unknown country is shown from three different perspectives.  The first perspective introduces the threat as Major Daniel Gonzalez (Anthony Ramos) and his team at Fort Greely in Alaska first detect the missile heading inbound to the United States on radar and attempt, unsuccessfully, to neutralize it with anti-ballistic missiles and as Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), the senior  officer in the White House situation room, and her team assess the danger to the population and inform all high-ranking government officials.  The second perspective proposes possible responses as General Anthony Brady (Tracy Letts), the senior military officer at STRATCOM (the United States Strategic Command), advocates for nuclear retaliation against all known enemies and as Jake Bearington (Gabriel Basso), the Deputy National Security Officer, urges caution after contacting Ana Park (Greta Lee), the NSA's North Korea expert, and the Russian Foreign minister (Andrei Kouznetsov).  The third perspective conveys the weight of making an impossible decision as the POTUS (Idris Elba) consults with Secretary of Defense Reid Baker (Jared Harris) and Presidential Military Aide Lieutenant Commander Robert Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King) in order to choose between several devastating options.  One of the things I found most compelling is how the narrative humanizes the characters who are responsible for keeping the country safe, often at the expense of their own families, especially when Walker tearfully advises her husband (Neal Bledsoe) to take their son (Nicholas Monterosso) and drive as far away as possible, when Baker calls his estranged daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) after he realizes that she lives in the targeted city, and when the POTUS calls the First Lady (Renee Elise Goldsberry), who is visiting Africa, to ask her opinion.  However, this is also extremely disconcerting because we see that these very human individuals tasked with keeping us safe are also fallible. The action is frenetic as the camera shifts from person to person in the large ensemble cast and the suspense is almost unbearable as the countdown to impact is shown three different times with an unsettling score.  I was on the edge of my seat until the ending which I found very disappointing (I may or may not have uttered an expletive under my breath) even though I understand the reason for it.  I would recommend seeing this in the theater because it is a visceral experience but it will be available on Netflix beginning October 24.