THE PEACEMAKER RATING: 5.5 / 10 --> Not good enough to recommend
Review Date: May 18, 1998
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: Michael Schiffer
Producers: Branko Lustig and Walter F. Parkes
Actors: George Clooney as Thomas Devoe
Nicole Kidman as Julia Kelly
Genre: Thriller
Year of Release: 1997
Mimi Leder's directorial debut was also the first theatrical release from the newly formed Hollywood studio Dreamworks SKG. S for Steven Spielberg, K Jeffrey Katzenberg, G for David Geffen.
PLOT: Russian bad guys steal some nuclear warheads from a train. Good Military Guy Devoe (Clooney), and Nuclear Expert Kelly (Kidman) are the two American wunderkinds appointed to find the warheads and save the world from a possible nuclear disaster.
CRITIQUE: Mostly unexciting, humdrum romp that doesn't really offer us any real action or suspense until the last half an hour. Set in various international destinations, this jargon-filled strategy session set amongst military folk, nuclear experts and politicians, is the movie equivalent of a long day at the dentist's office. Warning: There is a lot of talking in this film, and very little action. The special effects are limited to one great nuclear blast at the beginning of the picture, and many redundant explosions throughout the rest of the flick.
Clooney does okay in his wise-cracking, super-Special-Forces dude role, while Kidman literally runs through her part like she's in a hurry to get to London to film Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT with her husband, Tom Cruise. The rest of the cast just seem like a bunch of people standing around and taking orders from either of the two stars. And coincidentally enough, both stars always seem to be right. How exciting! Yawn.
The last forty minutes finally wakes us from the numbing sensation induced by the film's first hour and a half delivery (alas, Mrs. JoBlo couldn't make it all the way through), and does actually deliver some pretty neat suspense, good action, and a centered point of reference. Other than that, this film does not deliver in regards to its "thrills" moniker one bit, and will leave many a thriller fan invariably disappointed. Mind you, if you enjoy films that seem to realistically encapsulate the essence of being part of an actual governmental body of people chasing after bad guys, then you might enjoy most of the talkie-talkies in this film. I did not.
Little Known Facts: George Clooney stands 5"10, was born in Kentucky, owns a pet pig, has taught actresses Kirsten Dunst to drive (on a golf cart) and Laurie Metcalf to drive a stick shift, is cousins with actor Miguel Ferrer, and nephew to singer/actress Rosemary Clooney. He also flailed through many TV sitcoms before settling into his dramatic shoes at ER ("Roseanne" and "The Facts of Life" are two of the shows in which he briefly participated). Nicole Kidman also stands 5"10, was born in Hawaii, but brought up in Australia, and has two adopted children with her husband of eight years, Tom Cruise. She is a high-school dropout. Mimi Leder directed many episodes of the popular NBC TV drama ER, starring the ever-popular George Clooney, before making her debut as a movie director with this film (I wonder how he got this gig?).
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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