Review: The Peacemaker (1997) A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Mimi Leder
Written by: Michael Schiffer
Starring: George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Marcel Iures, Alexander Baluev, and Rene Medvesek
Ingredients: roguish man, scientific woman, car chase, military raid, helicopter attack, bomb defusing scene
Synopsis: A distraught Bosnian piano teacher named Dusan Gavrich (Marcel Iures), has purchased nuclear weapons, but high ranking government scientist Dr. Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman) is on to his scheme. Kelly reasons that since 44-E was written on an invoice from a German truck renter in Vienna, and Bosnia is on the 44th parallel, and the United Nations is in New York on 44th Street, it must all be part of a plot to blow up New York City. Assisting her in finding and stopping the bomber is Colonel Tom DeVoe (George Clooney), a rule-bending gung ho military man who enjoys patronizing Dr. Kelly. Soon people are busy barking radio orders to helicopters, police, and government soldiers while worried officials swirl around ready rooms strategizing over big logistics charts. It's all great fun, and as with all movies about bombs, ‘The Peacemaker' concludes with the obligatory big digital readout scene where the heroes anguish over how best to disable the explosive device as it counts down the time.
‘The Peacemaker' is the highly anticipated first motion picture release of Dreamworks SKG (the movie-making alliance of Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen).
Opinion: In search of the piano teacher, DeVoe and Kelly methodically check out different parts of the world, but never once does it seem that one clue will lead to another, or that the piano teacher will do anything other than run, which means there's not a lot of suspense. However, most of the scenes look busy, with lots of orders being barked and underlings running frantically. This is enough to fill in the gaps between the more exciting car chases and other action sequences. Although the acting is okay (Clooney with his charming smirk and head tilt, Kidman as a nervous but in-control gal), it is definitely downplayed as the movie is primarily an action formula.
Movie reviewed by David Sunga
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