A House of Dynamite

By Joanna Langfield

As well-meaning as it is, Kathryn Bigelow’s cautionary tale is, for her, a rare miss.

Told from the prospective of the many government officials on duty as a nuclear attack is underway, the film’s first chapter does it all. The always terrific Rebecca Ferguson, after a night of no sleep, tending to her sick child, shows up at the White House as she would on any other day. But, when she and the others in the Situation Room are informed the military in Alaska has found a missile on its radar, a response they’d trained for is underway. The terrifying question is: will it work? Or will the weapon still land in the American heartland, immediately taking out Chicago and possibly so much more?

An excellent group of actors, many of whom have worked with Bigelow before, then show up in different chapters, allowing perspectives from the military, intelligence and Oval Office. Look for spot on, albeit limited work from Idris Elba, Anthony Ramos, Greta Lee, plus the always superb Tracy Letts and Jared Harris. Each character is given a dignity and humanity that enhances the film’s already patriotic and compassionate purpose.

But the editing is odd, cutting us off from stories just as we are getting attached. Also, each chapter brings us into a different setting, but, essentially the same personal perspective. And don’t even get me started about the film’s ending. The rather large audience I saw it with burst out laughing. And that’s not good.

Any work reminding us of the tragic cost of nuclear warfare is worthy. Unfortunately, this choppy telling detracts from what could have been a much finer, more devastatingly profound piece of art.