Thriller Movie Review - The Peacemaker

George Clooney and Nicole Kidman in a thriller movie, what more needs to be said.  Both bring so much to the screen on their own but together they light it up.  It is the first film by DreamWorks Pictures.  The basis for the film was the 1997 book One Point Safe by Leslie Cockburn and Andrew Cockburn about the state of Russia's nuclear arsenal.  The book got mixed reviews.

What it's about:  

 In Russia ten 550–750 kiloton nuclear warheads that belong to an Inter-Continental Balistic Missile (ICBM) are loaded onto a train for transport to a dismantling facility as part of the end of the cold war and non-proliferation.  The train is hijacked and nine of the missiles are offloaded and the one left onboard the train is setoff.

    Dr. Julia Kelly (Kidman), head of the National Security Council's nuclear watch group jumps into the case because of the explosion.  During her briefing she suspects Chechen terrorists are responsible, Lt Colonel Thomas Devoe (Clooney) of military intelligence suggests that the explosion was to cover up a theft of the other warheads. They end up working together in a race against the clock to avert nuclear disaster.  Rated R for some strong violence and language.

Cast:

George Clooney as Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Devoe

Nicole Kidman as Dr. Julia Kelly

Marcel Iureş as Dusan Gavrich 

Aleksandr Baluev as Russian Army General Aleksandr Kodoroff

Rene Medvešek as Vlado Mirich 

Gary Werntz as Hamilton

Randall Batinkoff as Ken

Rotten Tomatoes and critics reviews:

Critics didn't like the movie with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 46%, but audiences on CinemaScore gave it a B+.  One critic said it was no worse or better than the average James Bond movie.

Trivia (from IMDB):

• While the story takes place all over the world, it was shot primarily in Slovakia with some sequences filmed in New York City and Philadelphia.

• While the story takes place all over the world, it was shot primarily in Slovakia with some sequences filmed in New York City and Philadelphia.

• George Clooney did most of his own stunts. Director Mimi Leder called him "fearless."  He even learned stunt driving for this movie.

• George Clooney learned to rappel out of a helicopter for this part. He found it "fun and weird and scary."

• Unlike their characters, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman got along very well on and off the set. In fact, Clooney, a notorious prankster, never pulled a prank on Kidman, out of respect.

• Mimi Leder secured the post as director because executive producer Steven Spielberg admired her work on the TV series ER (1994).

• One of the soldiers at the roadblock also starred in ER (1994), after George Clooney left: Goran Visnjic.

• When Defoe is leaving with the SpecOps team, Kelly calls him "a talented soldier with sloppy impulse control." George Clooney was in ER (1994) at the time, where another doctor called him "a talented doctor with sloppy impulse control."

• George Clooney dropped out of a Green Hornet adaptation to do this film. That version of Green Hornet was ultimately never produced.

• In her briefing about possible suspects behind the nuclear blast (as LTC Devoe walks in), you can hear Dr. Kelly name "Shamil Basayev" and describes him as a militant Chechen rebel leader. This is true. Shamil Basayev was suspected as the mastermind in the school takeover in North Ossetia, which captured more than 1000 hostages in September 2004. He was killed by an explosion on 10 July 2006, near Ekajevo, Ingushetia.

• The "Vienna" car chase scene, ending on a square with a fountain was actually shot in Bratislava, Slovakia. The square is in the vicinity of the American Embassy there.

My Thoughts:

This is a solid thriller with Clooney and Kidman delivering good performances.  Any downfalls are in the script that leaves some plot holes open.  But if you are looking for a good two hour break with a race against a ticking clock thrills, this is your movie.  I own this movie and every so often watch it again for pure escapism.  The music score has been particularly noted as skillful in adding to the tension and action.  

Movie Trailor: