Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen, Carrie Anne Moss, Martin Donavan. Directed by Gregor Jordan. Drama/Political. Synopsis: An American citizen and Army veteran turned Muslim is threatening the United States with nuclear weapons. A FBI team works with a mysterious anti-terrorism agent to find out the whereabouts of the bombs before they are set to explode.
This flick is intense. Real intense. The subject matter, domestic terrorism, is enough of a hot potato right there and the three main actors all bring their 'A' game to the table here.
Stuart Arthur Younger (Michael Sheen Damned United Frost/Nixon) is an American born Army veteran who has become a Muslim and, though he claims to love his country, is now threatening to set of three nuclear bombs in urban areas throughout the country unless his demands are met. Most disturbingly, due to some knowledge he gained and access he had while he was in the Army, he has thed material and know how to do it.
Our counter-terrorism team of FBI Agents, Brody (Carrie Anne Moss Suspect Zero) and Saunders (Martin Donavan The Sentinel Insomnia) are stunned to find out about this terrorist from the news, of all places, and then go hell bent for leather to prepare to find him with the help of some mysterious classified information that falls in their lap, pointing the Bureau to a mysterious figure who calls himself "H". (Samuel L. Jackson The Spirit The Incredibles)
H seems to be family man on the outside, but the trouble the FBI has in bringing him in makes obvious that he has serious classified government connnections and, in fact, he is a counter terrorism interrogation expert.
Why do they need H at this point, you might ask? Well, because the government already does have the terrorist in custody at a classified location, something known only to a small group of soldiers, our FBI team, and a few high ranking government officials.
What we see next is the progression of the 'work' of H, basically, he's the American answer to the terrorists....the torturer of those who would torture. In other words he's the one willing to do things in the name of national security that are...unthinkable.
This whole story is basically a morality tale, and one which happens to be etremely well written, directed, and acted. How far is it morally acceptable to go to save innocent lives? Do the ends of torture justify the means? Has a society lost its moral compass-and therefore the battle-when it engages in the tactics of terrorists and torturers, or is that simply what it must do to survive?
As I said, the three primary characters in this flick: H, Younger, and Agent Brody, were all superbly acted but, I need to give my primary shout out to Ms. Moss who had to be the moral opposite between the two pillars of evil, and had to not get blown off the screen by Mr. Sheen and Mr. Jackson, two actors who tend to do that to others in their movies. She doesn't, to say the least.
In fact, her character is the most layered and emphathetic, perhaps by design, but she still had to pull it off and she did. I highly recommend this film for anyone with any interest in geopolitical hot button issues, or if you just want to see a hell of a good flick.
I must warn you, however, there are some scenes of torture some might find disturbing both in terms of the act itself and who is being threatened. Trust me, it's nothing compared to the blood letting you will see in your run of the mill gore film these days, but some could be shocked in this type of film if you're not a little bit prepared.
Hopefully, I just did that.
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