Director Kathryn Bigelow has a firm grasp on the subgenre of examining the American military and national security apparatus. From the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker to Zero Dark Thirty, Bigelow is keen on examining the mechanics of the American government’s response to threats.
Which makes her new thriller, A House of Dynamite, right up her alley in terms of subject matter: an unidentified missile is heading to Chicago. Who did it and what’s the plan? The stakes and tensions are high, but lacking is the substantive execution that made the aforementioned titles much more compelling.
The structure of the storytelling takes the multi-faceted approach of showcasing the same real-time scenario, but from the various perspectives of White House Situation Room officials (Rebecca Ferguson), generals, national security advisors, FEMA officials, Navy officers, and POTUS (Idris Elba).
On paper, this is an intriguing approach to showcase how a doomsday event would be perceived and handled differently via the vast array of stakeholders. And it is. But the resulting perspectives are not distinct enough in emotion or tone, and thus the repeated reset of the narrative does become tiresome over time. In the end, it really is more so about the logistics, and that leaves a gap for emotional investment from the audience perspective.
The performances are good. Competent and serviceable for navigating the constant confusion and tension. But nothing individually worth highlighting. There is a notable degree of melodrama, further underscored by a script that, again, nails the logistics, but neglects to craft characters in a meaningful way. The result is some dialogue delivery that lacks convincing sentimentality. I naturally conjured multiple eye rolls while Elba’s POTUS was struggling with both tactical and moral decisions.
The most frustrating thing about A House of Dynamite is it’s purpose as a highly serious film in these highly serious times: I don’t know what it is. As cautionary tale there’s no compelling hook, message, or indictment that makes this film a uniquely effective contribution to the nuclear war subgenre. As an academic exercise, there are relevant and frightening depictions of real-time hypothesizing on the strategies between America’s geopolitical enemies. That was very fascinating for me based on my interest in politics and world affairs.
But I have documentaries and podcasts to fill that void. When we’re talking about cinema helmed by a renown, Oscar nominated director in Kathryn Bigelow, I expected more powerful execution and impact.
