Movie Review: A House of Dynamite
A House of Dynamite marks the first film from director Kathryn Bigelow since 2017’s Detroit. Bigelow’s return has her looking at the current political landscape as a mysterious missile heads towards the United States. The result is a tense and interesting film, though not one of Bigelow’s best.
Working from a script by Noah Oppenheim, A House of Dynamite picks up on a seemingly normal day in Washington, D.C. White House staffers come into work, get briefed on the night’s events, and get ready for their workday. At a military base in Alaska, it is discovered that a missile has been launched from the Pacific, and it is headed towards the United States. The United States is suddenly in panic mode, trying to figure out where the missile came from and who shot it while also trying to come up with a plan to intercept it before it causes mass destruction.
Oppenheim’s script presents this scenario from three different perspectives, with each one moving up the totem pole of ranks among White House personnel. The first part examines the team responsible for monitoring threats against America, led by Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson). The second perspective shows us higher military members led by General Anthony Brady (Tracy Letts) and higher-ranked White House staff, such as Deputy National Security Advisor Baerington (Gabriel Basso). The third segment shows us the perspective from the top government brass like the Secretary of Defense (Jaren Harris) and the President (Idris Elba).
The first segment is the best and most harrowing. Bigelow establishes the lives of the people we are focused on, making them more relatable and making the fear of a missile hitting the U.S. even more terrifying. We see how, despite working for the government, they have no say in the actions that are taking place and are left to sit in a small room and wait for their impending doom.
The second segment is interesting, as we see how military leaders and government strategists handle situations of this magnitude. Basso is sensational in this part, balancing fear and intensity while also trying to stay calm enough to talk the President and Secretary of Defense away from retaliating against an unknown enemy. The third segment is the cinematic equivalent of cruising down the highway at 70 miles per hour and then hitting a standstill traffic jam. All intensity and intrigue vanish in the third segment, despite a good performance from Elba. Maybe it was seeing the same scenario for a third time and knowing its outcome. Maybe it was that there wasn’t much added to seeing the President in person and watching his day versus hearing him on the phone, like we did in the first two segments. Maybe it was a combination of both. With how intense and intriguing the first two segments were, it’s a shame that A House of Dynamite concluded with such a dud. The film’s finale is incredibly bleak, leaving a feeling of hopelessness, which is how some of us may feel in this current political and global climate.
A House of Dynamite was like watching an athlete’s first game following an injury. They still have all the mechanics and skills they had before, but they’re a little slower and might not be as accurate. Bigelow’s ability to build tension and direct actors is still there; it’s just not at the level it once was. A House of Dynamite is a good enough film that makes me want Bigelow to start directing her next movie as soon as possible, when she’s shaken the rust off and is back in peak form.
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