THE PEACEMAKER (1997) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Mimi Leder Writer: Michael Schiffer Starring: George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Michael Iures, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Michael Boatman
Big budget action pics are usually just passed off as "crap," and I agree that most of them are. I mean, I don't know about you but I cringe everytime someone like Seagal or Van Damme puts one out on the market precisely in that time when there's nothing else good so it will make it look like the movie-of-the-weekend by comparison. But in this surprisingly interesting fall movie season, when there are good films like "The Game" and "L.A. Confidential" out, as well as a bear movie written by David Mamet, the obligatory monthly action pic ("The Peacemaker") actually delivers. Yes, it's full of cliches, devoid of characterization or emotion, filled with scenes that have been stolen from other actions pics that were stolen from other action pics. And yes, it ends with the big cliche of the ticking timebomb (yawn). But fuck it, it's fun.
"The Peacemaker" combines the usual action pic with touches of Bond and Clancy to produce a story about two government peoples' search for stolen nuclear weapons that were missing when a train carrying them crashed in Russia, setting one of them off (cool scene, by the way). Called to duty are: a government chick (no clue what her position is) played by Nicole Kidman (with brown hair and one of her attempts at an American accent); and a military colonel or something played by George Clooney. The sight of these two on screen for the first time of course makes us realize how important the marketing was instead of the plot because they look great together.
But as the story kind of twists and turns, we find out that the boys who stole the nuclear weapons are being screwed over themselves by three Bosnian brothers, the unofficial leader of them being a UN diplomat (Michael Iures) who wants to take one of them to New York and ignite the UN building in protest of their lack of support for the killings in Bosnia. Yeah. Interesting idea, but we all know how serious this should be treated. But at leas they're up to date on current events.
Kidman and Clooney, boasting a kind of retro Hepburn/Tracy relationship, starting out with her asking for a man who will follow her orders only to be ordered around by the rule-breaking Clooney for the remainder of the film, and ending with a potential bit of dating (glad they didn't have them fool around in between action sequences or something). The two of them journey around the world throughout the film, travelling to Vienna, Russia, etc - getting involved in surprisingly well-executed action sequences.
Mimi Leder, who has directed "China Beach" and "ER" episodes, makes a fun-filled first film. She doesn't waste time, and the film moves quickly, prohibiting the need to check your watch every couple seconds. And her action sequences look excellent and contain a lot of humor. The screenplay by Michael Schiffer is nothing special, but it does provide a lot of funny lines here and there.
And the acting is good too. George Clooney has made four films in a year and a half, and he has definitely proved that he's a commanding presence in front of the Hollywood camera. In fact, he seems to be so comfortable nowadays that it almost seems that he's flirting with the lense. He has a great sense of humor with his acting, and looks cool as hell during the action sequences. He's certainly becoming an accomplished Hollywood actor. Don't know if that's a good thing or not, but nevertheless, it's true.
Kidman gets the fuzzy end of the lollipop, but nevertheless does a good job. She shows a tough woman who seems to be striving very hard in some scenes (so much that her shirt sticks to her body). And there's those lovely shots of her in the swimming pool, of course. Anyway, Kidman's better than this, but I suppose it's fun to do a crap role like this every once in a while.
Also, Armin Mueller-Stahl acts in a big budget film for the second time in one month (the other was "The Game"), and, as he was before, is kind of wasted seeing that he's a very good actor. Also look for "Spin City"'s Michael Boatman in a little part that could have gone to any actor.
Oh. And Michael Iures as the lead terrorist is actually very good. He looks like a kind of Middle Eastern Jeremy Irons, and has this great look on his face that shows that he truly has lived in Bosnia. He looks absolutely ragged, and I actually felt a bit of sympathy for the guy, even if he wanted to blow up New York.
Dreamworks first film is not a great film, but it delivers what I thought it would: present a good, dumb, action pic that's fun to watch. And it is. It's got cliche after cliche, lacks any depth, and has more plot holes than a Seagal flick (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating here). But who cares - it was fun, and I'm gonna go ahead and give it a non-pretentious thumb up.
MY RATING (out of 4): ***
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