Deterrence (2000)
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Reviews Counted: 39
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 21
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 1,010
My Rating
Movie Info
The world finds itself on the brink of nuclear disaster, with the balance point a small diner in Colorado, in the suspenseful political thriller Deterrence. In the year 2008, U.S. President Walter Emerson (Kevin Pollak), who recently took office after the death of the former chief executive, is campaigning for re-election. After winning the Colorado state primary, Emerson finds himself stranded in a roadside diner after a freak snowstorm. Traveling with Emerson are his chief of staff, Marshall
Mar 10, 2000 Wide
Aug 29, 2000
Paramount Home Video
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Cast
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Kevin Pollak
Walter Emerson -
Timothy Hutton
Marshall Thompson -
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Gayle Redford -
Sean Astin
Ralph -
Clotilde Courau
Katie -
Badja Djola
Harvey -
Mark Thompson
Irvin -
Uzi Gal
Iraqi Ambassador -
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All Critics (47) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (21) | DVD (8)
I got caught up in the global chess game, in the bluffing and the dares, the dangerous strategy of using nuclear blackmail against a fanatic who might call the bluff.
Top CriticThe plot twists fall about as weightily as the fake snow.
Deterrence does serve up some wonderfully chewy pulp during its generally engaging 101 minutes, along with a certain vagueness of point-of-view.
The talk grows tired while the tension, alas, barely grows at all. And the ending is a cheat, pure and simple.
It may be a little too dour, a little too self-inflated.
A nostalgic throwback to the all-male talkathons of the 1950s and '60s.
A president wrestles with another Iraq war.
Lurie quickly glazes over one important bit of backstory in the early going, a point that is crucial to understand some motivation.
Taut and intense. Pollak is outstanding.
To it's credit, the film doesn't pull many punches . . .It really gets the message across that when you threaten someone with nukes, you'd better be ready to pull the trigger.
With a strong cast and smart script, Lurie conjures up an engaging scenario with little more than chicken wire and string.
he exciting thing about Deterrence is that *we* are the big scary bad guy who is acting irrationally - and yet the conclusion explains everything.
Only in Hollywood is ineptitude and crassness rewarded so richly.
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