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.

Did have an ending, at all

a movie about the impossible choices

I’m genuinely baffled by what I just watched for an hour and 45 minutes. I was hooked for the first 30 or so minutes but then the film quickly stagnated. It replayed the same events from multiple perspectives. The ending gave me absolutely no answers. Did the missile hit Chicago? Did the President give orders and retaliate? Fading to black and into the credits after all that was frankly ridiculous.

I enjoyed some parts of the film but now that it’s finished I find it incredibly disappointing and pointless. The premise was promising but it fell flat. I also expected Idris Elba to be at the forefront as he’s billed first, but we don’t see him until about 50 minutes in, maybe more. I wouldn’t recommend watching; I feel like I’ve wasted my time.