Lefkowitz 1 Alex Lefkowitz Briggs English 2010 065 8:30 AM 22 April 2012

Almost Brilliant
A Review of the Film Unthinkable
Writers Oren Moverman and Peter Woodward come painstakingly close to creating a brilliant film with their latest title Unthinkable. As an inventive psychological thriller, the film succeeds in masterfully exploring human morality, and is rich with zealous symbolism and superb acting. Though Unthinkable is a joy to watch because of its success in these areas, it will never be referred to as truly brilliant because it falls short of common expectations in too many other aspects. The plot of the film is simple enough, and centers on a terrorist named Yusuf who has placed three bombs in American cities. Soon after, Yusuf is captured by authorities and interrogated in order to discern the locations of the bombs. However, it is not the plot which makes the film a joy to watch, but the thought provoking exploration of human morality that is within it. Moverman and Woodward make great use of symbolism throughout the film to conduct this exploration. For example, the character H (played by Samuel L. Jackson) symbolizes the violent and debatably malicious nature of humanity, and is the foil
Figure 1: H and Helen represent opposite sides of ethics in the film's exploration of morality

to the character Helen (played by Carrie-Anne Moss)

who symbolizes absolute morality. Did you notice that both of their names start with the letter

Lefkowitz 2 H? The characters each represent one side of human ethics, as symbolized by the connection of their names. This connection adds to the exploration of human morality because the audience is left to contemplate whether the actions of H, or Helen, are ultimately ethical. In one scene for instance, H comforts (emphasis added) Helen by saying youll be alright, it [the torture] hits everybody like that at first to which Helen replies you tortured him! you didnt even get any answers! H counters magnificently by saying so this blood on my jacket would be ok if I had gotten answers? Moral questions such as this result from the contradictory nature of H and Helen, and give the film its lasting impression. In a later scene, Helen responds to Hs notion of torturing Yusufs children by saying you cant do this! were fucking human beings! let the bomb go off! we can not do this! This scene creates another question on morality: is it ok to harm two innocent children for the sake of millions? The audience is left to side with either H or Helen, and ultimately conclude which course of action they think is most ethical. This exploration of human morality certainly elevates the films plot, but movie reviewers such as Joe Leydon comment that the film is simplistic and dramatizing (Leydon pp 1). In rebuttal, I would like to contend that the dramatized plot actually benefits the film! Picture this: instead of gruesomely torturing Yusuf for days on end, H interrogates him rationally. He injects Yusuf with a variety of chemical liquids and amino acids; truth serum. Next, H uses deception (fake blood, special effects, etc.), to create the illusion that hes torturing Yusufs children. In reality though, no one is actually tortured, no laws are broken, and Yusuf quickly gives up the locations of all four bombs. Compared to the films plot, this scenario is more representative of how the interrogation might actually be conducted.* Yet, with this more

Lefkowitz 3 realistic plot the film loses most, if not all, of its controversy, and the powerful link to moral values is eradicated. As you can see, the dramatized plot does not hinder Unthinkable, but actually allows it to indulge in one of its greatest aspects the exploration of human morality. What does hinder the film however, are slight miscues in writing. For instance, Helen dispatches two agents to Hs residence in the beginning of the film to bring him in for questioning. While phoning his protection agent, H comments that hell take care of them [the agents] himself, cocks his pistol with a loud snap, and slams the telephone on the receiver. This is a little clich, but acceptable. The big writing mistake comes minutes later when we find that H has magically subdued the two federally trained agents, and duct taped them to chairs. This is extremely clich, and unacceptable. I mean seriously!? I wasnt aware the H was superman. A film with a $15 million budget (Unthinkable IMDb) should not be subject to such corny scenes as this; we demand more production value! Similar in fashion, a careless writing mistake has the film establish the current date as Wednesday. Yet, as the FBI agents are watching Yusufs tape, it states that the three bombs will detonate on Friday, and an agent immediately comments: Thats only four days from now. Is Friday really four days from Wednesday? Its extremely unfortunate that the film is riddled with slight blunders such as this because, though small, they disqualify it from being perceived as a brilliant film.

Lefkowitz 4 Thankfully however, these miscues can easily be overlooked on account of the fearsome acting of Samuel L Jackson and Michael Sheen. Jackson is perhaps best known for his vehement, yet intelligent nature in films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Vol. 2 his role in Unthinkable is no different. Whats fascinating about Jacksons role as H is his
Figure 2: The superb acting of Jackson and Sheen is one of the greatest aspects of the film

ability to sinuously exhibit contradictory emotions. H is

a character who is capable of horrific violence, but at the same time has a strong disdain for violence. In the scene where he cuts Jehans (Yusufs wife) throat for example, Jackson, eyes glossed with a look of pure madness, screams this is war! this is sacrifice! and seems to be without remorse. Afterwards, the audience finds Jackson huddled in the bathroom, crying and gulping down medication. The emotionally-driven and gritty acting by Jackson throughout these scenes is flawless, and is comparable only to that of Michael Sheens performance. As Yusuf, Sheen is tasked with portraying a sociopathic and incredibly intelligent terrorist who is on the verge of being, quite literally, broken. Sheens acting throughout the film is stellar, but borders on Oscar territory when Jackson begins to torture his children. At this point an eruption of saliva spewing dialogue and raw passion ensues, almost making you feel bad for him. The combined acting of Jackson and Sheen is certainly an extraordinary aspect of the film, and is second only to its exploration of ethics. It is rather sad then, that the film must conclude with what might commonly be known as a terrible ending. The catastrophic ending beings as Helen walks out of the school and mindlessly stares into the blank sunset. Then, the camera suddenly zooms out, fades to black, and the credits role... The audience is left dumbstruck and confused, looking for a conclusion to

Lefkowitz 5 the plot and wondering if there really was a fourth bomb. Moverman and Woodward must have realized their mistake because they created an alternate ending where an FBI squad successfully finds and disarms the third bomb. As the squad is celebrating however, the camera catches a glimpse of the fourth bomb, and as the countdown timer reaches zero the credits begin. Unfortunately, the film was still released with the original ending, and the alternate ending is only available as a special feature on the DVD. Not all aspects of Unthinkable are polished to perfection, but Moverman and Woodward are nonetheless able to produce a film that is a joy to watch. The masterful exploration of human morality, effective use of symbolism, and sensational acting are almost enough to expunge the various slight miscues. However, as it stands Unthinkable will remain a film that is: almost brilliant.

*I conducted a telephone interview with my step-father Larry Stevens, who is a retired Navy Senior Chief and is knowledgeable about military conduct.

Lefkowitz 6 Works Cited Leydon, Joe. "Unthinkable Reviews." Rotten Tomatoes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. Unthinkable. By Oren Moverman and Peter Woodward. Dir. Gregor Jordan. Perf. Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Sheen and Carrie-Anne Moss. 2010. DVD. "Unthinkable." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.