A House of Dynamite

I liked the rhetoric; if this happened, nobody would really have any idea what to do. There are not “adults” in the room or stalwart protectors who have it all figured out. No gods, only men. The ending still feels like a huge blue ball after retelling us the same story 5 times. I recognize the ending drives the point home, unmitigated uncertainty is all we’d have in this situation. But also a verbal “what the fuck” from everyone else in the room told me I wasn’t alone in my general dissatisfaction. Not bad, kinda wished I’d watched something else though if I’m honest.

Great build up..but to what? I won’t lie I might just be the wrong audience for this I will completely accept that. Honestly “meh” might be too harsh because I was gripped for a solid 30 minutes. It’s just that the movie replays the same scenario from different perspectives but still attempts to build the tension on the stuff we have already seen. Then like I said it leads to nothing, there is no pay off, it’s like anti Chekhov.

This review is the result of a few days journey. 80% of the way through the movie, I absolutely loved it. I was hooked, riveted, on the edge of my seat. The way Bigelow can capture you and hold tension for such a long period is so impressive. The acting performances were phenomenal, with such gripping emotion shown from everyone.

And then it ended. And I hated it. And I was so mad because the ending was so stupid.

However, I have been thinking about it consistently for the past couple days and I think with a more typical ending, it would not have had that effect. I would have said “yep great” and never thought about it again. Instead, the sense of tension and fear created by the film is still lingering with me.

I think I would have still preferred a different ending with a nice little bow on it, but I have come back around from loving it and hating it, and sit more in the middle of having enjoyed the journey as well as the questions it left me with.

I love this "behind the scenes in the US intelligence network" kind of movie, but the ending is a bit underwhelming

What kind of ending was that?!?! I will say the acting in this was seriously good, and it’s told from four different perspectives. But I did not like the ending at all. I was yelling at my TV. I haven’t done that in a bit. If you like intense war films, this is one for you; just be prepared to be let down.

Had the potential to be great, but it built up all that suspense just for the plot to literally leave you hanging. Great concept in theory, I suppose, but definitely not the payoff you want after investing an entire movie into the buildup.