**
A number of Kathryn Bigelow’s films focus on work, and the psychological effects of dedicating your life to that job. Personal lives take a back seat as the protagonist gets too deep into their mission. Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Utah develops a close bond with his target, played by Patrick Swayze, which makes him question his mission and his allegiance, in Point Break (1990 ).
Almost 20 years later, Bigelow reached the peak of her career, winning Best Director and Best Picture at the Oscars for The Hurt Locker (2008 ), a fascinatingly gritty, realistic film compared to its main competitor that year, Avatar.
While still exploring similar themes of obsessive behaviour, and an addiction to the adrenaline of putting your life on the line, The Hurt Locker marked a change to her filmmaking style. She opted for a more hand-held, subjective approach that gives that film, as well as Zero Dark Thirty (2012 ), and her latest offering, A House of Dynamite, a palpable sense of urgency. The realistic depiction of the US military complex also appeals to those curious of that country’s inner machinations.
A House of Dynamite explores the United States’ immediate reaction to the sudden discovery of an incoming nuclear warhead, predicted to create an impact with catastrophic consequences.
Ranging from staff working in the White House Situation Room, and rising up all the way to the President, the film observes how the country would respond to such a sudden and startling event.
With the opening text, Bigelow lays bare her intentions: a Post-Cold War international understanding of the need for fewer nuclear weapons has come to an end. The film immediately announces itself as a warning for modern times, and a sobering prediction of the consequences that could follow further deterioration of global relations.
It is a heady and prescient subject, but the result is far from what Bigelow is aiming for. The film shows – in compelling detail – the discussions, protocols and, ultimately, the people, who make up the National Security response.
Bafflingly, the same time-sensitive response is shown from three different perspectives, acting as a three act structure. This narrative technique gradually drains the film of the nerve-shredding tension built up in the superior first act.
Rebecca Ferguson (The Greatest Showman (2017 ), Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018 ) ) features prominently here, and is probably the most successful of the cast members. She feels like she belongs in her role, and the subtlety of how she plays her character’s panic is effective. The escalating panic is well constructed to the point that I was frustrated that we would see the same events from a different perspective.
In fact, it is not really a different perspective. Most of the dialogue and action is the same, only that we see the characters, rather than just hear them. It does not offer anything new to the narrative, appearing as nothing more than lazy repetition.
Bigelow’s trademark hand-held camerawork absorbs you in the real-time situation. The pace is relentless, moving from locations and characters at a dizzying pace. Dialogue is smartly kept to a minimum, complimenting this frenetic approach.
However the realism (that Bigelow so expertly achieved with her previous Oscar-nominated films ) is at odds with an ensemble of recognisable A-list actors, some of whom don’t fit their characters. Idris Elba and Jared Harris’s inclusions in the film especially, take away some of the film’s credibility and dramatic weight.
In The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, the protagonists feel fully developed and belong in their environments. Here, there is an inauthenticity and shallowness to the characters which the film cannot overcome. Some characters are given a scene or two to show their personal lives in an attempt to heighten the emotional stakes, while others remain largely anonymous. The latter approach gives the film the documentary-like realism it wants to achieve while the former, and its artificiality, works against it.
A House of Dynamite is quite disappointing, considering Bigelow’s pedigree. This film lacks a hard-hitting punch. Despite the urgency of the subject matter and the directness of the approach, there is nothing particularly provocative or critical about it.
2 / 5
Now available on Netflix.
