Deterrence

2000

Deterrence

Critics Consensus

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Deterrence Photos

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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 Thompson (Timothy Hutton), national security advisor Gayle Redford (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and a network TV crew. While the president exchanges pleasantries with the diner's staff and customers, a new bulletin appears on TV: Udei Hussein, son of the late Saddam Hussein, has invaded Kuwait and butchered several hundred U.S. peace-keeping troops. Outraged, the president announces that if Hussein and his forces do not withdraw and officially surrender, he will begin dropping nuclear weapons on Baghdad. However, Iraq responds that if they are attacked, 23 cities in the United States and allied nations will be immediately destroyed in a counterattack. Emerson, his advisors, and the others trapped in the diner with them debate long and loud about what to do, and what the potential consequences could be. Deterrence was written and directed by former film critic Rod Lurie.

Rating:

R (Language and violence.)
Genre:

Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:

Rod Lurie
Written By:

Rod Lurie
In Theaters:

Mar 10, 2000 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Aug 29, 2000
Runtime:

101 minutes
Studio:

Paramount Home Video

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Cast

Kevin Pollak
as President Emerson

Timothy Hutton
as Marshall

Sheryl Lee Ralph
as Gayle

Sean Astin
as Ralphie

Clotilde Courau
as Katie

Badja Djola
as Harvey

Mark Thompson
as Irvin

Uzi Gal
as Iraqi Ambassador

Kathryn Morris
as Lizzie

Michael Mantell
as Taylor Woods

Joe McCrackin
as Agent Williams

Scoot Powell
as Noah

Scott Powell

Rigg Kennedy
as Howard

Amit Mehta
as Abu Hussein

Kristen Shaw
as Alexandra Emerson

Ryan Cutrona
as Special Agent Dexter

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Critic Reviews for Deterrence

All Critics (39) | Top Critics (11) | DVD (2)

The film begins and ends with footage of FDR intoning "I hate war," something the film takes two interminable hours to say.

Jan 1, 2000 | Full Review…

Jessica Winter
Village Voice
Top Critic
The talk grows tired while the tension, alas, barely grows at all. And the ending is a cheat, pure and simple.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: C

Eleanor Ringel Cater
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic
The plot twists fall about as weightily as the fake snow.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: D | Full Review…

Steve Daly
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic
Deterrence does serve up some wonderfully chewy pulp during its generally engaging 101 minutes, along with a certain vagueness of point-of-view.

Jan 1, 2000

Robert Horton
Film.com
Top Critic
A very effective updating of the underrated Cold War thriller Fail-Safe.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4

Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic
One of the pleasures of Deterrence is that it does not tell the audience what to think.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic
A president wrestles with another Iraq war.

Dec 22, 2010 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
Lurie quickly glazes over one important bit of backstory in the early going, a point that is crucial to understand some motivation.

Jul 16, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
Taut and intense. Pollak is outstanding.

Mar 26, 2004 | Rating: 4/5

Widgett Walls
Needcoffee.com
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.

Mar 20, 2003 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com
With a strong cast and smart script, Lurie conjures up an engaging scenario with little more than chicken wire and string.

Oct 24, 2001 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium
he exciting thing about Deterrence is that *we* are the big scary bad guy who is acting irrationally - and yet the conclusion explains everything.

Jun 15, 2001 | Rating: 4

Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

View All Critic Reviews (39)

Audience Reviews for Deterrence

Mar 13, 2011

I really REALLY like this one. The premise is simple, in a snowed in diner in the middle of Colorado the president gets stuck on the way to an air force base. The possibility of nuclear war ensues.

Ken S Super Reviewer
Jan 02, 2005

[font=Century Gothic][color=darkslategray] "Deterrence" is a movie set in the year 2008 during the Colorado presidential primary. During which, the presidential party is stranded in a diner in the middle of a blizzard. At which point, there is a news alert about Iraq invading Kuwait. "Deterrence" is a throwback to cold war thrillers such as Fail-Safe. Now, this movie is undeniably tense throughout(led by a fine performance with Kevin Pollak as the President) but the ending is a copout. [/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#2f4f4f] The movie has a larger problem which is that this movie was made in 1999 and the world has changed immensely since then. So, it's impossible to imagine Uday Hussein leading an invasion of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia now, much less breathing. In fact, it's hard to imagine Iraq presenting this much of a threat now, and not taking terrorism into question.[/color][/font]

Walter M Super Reviewer