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Deterrence

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Every president has a defining moment. Walter Emerson is about to have his.

Set in the year 2008, Deterrence is a provocative political thriller which takes place over the course of an election evening. When Walter Emerson (Kevin Pollak), the embattled incumbent President of the USA, finds himself trapped in Colorado by a freak snowstorm, he and his entourage must seek refuge in a diner.

As President Emerson, his chief of staff Marshall Thompson (Timothy Hutton) and national security advisor Gayle Redford (Sheryl Lee Ralph) view the election returns at the diner and hear news of his victory in a crucial primary, the broadcast is interrupted by reports of an international incident with UN forces overrun and numerous Americans killed. As the President decides on a course of action, he addresses the nation from the diner. During a live world-wide broadcast, Emerson threatens the unthinkable, a nuclear confrontation. is he bluffing or is he willing to risk the lives of millions?

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film thriller President terrorism snow nuclear missile

Persons of interest

Kevin Pollak .... President Walter Emerson
Timothy Hutton .... Marshall Thompson
Sheryl Lee Ralph .... Gayle Redford
Clotilde Courau .... Katie
Badja Djola .... Harvey
Sean Astin .... Ralph
Mark Thompson .... Gerald Irvin
Michael Mantell .... Taylor Woods
Kathryn Morris .... Lizzie Woods
Ryan Cutrona .... Agent Dexter
Joe McCrackin .... Agent Williams
Scoot Powell .... Noah
J Scott Shonka .... Captain Coddington
Jim Curley .... Admiral Miller
Rigg Kennedy .... Howard
James Handy .... Lancaster/President Buchanan
Graham Galloway .... George Carvelli/Jeter
John Cirigliano .... Martin Keller
Amit Mehta .... Abu Hussein
Rod Lurie .... Screenwriter
Rod Lurie .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Studios and distributors:

Paramount Classics

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Deterrence is a surprisingly good made for cable, release to video movie.

Deterrence takes some of the major news stories of the 90s and twists them together into a sequel, Life 2: the return, or, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Using the "locked in a room" plot structure, everything occurs at the other end of a satellite phone causing repercussions among those at this end. It lets you have a big picture shown in intimate terms, kind of like Air Force One without the unbelievable action bits ("Get off my plane" - who writes this crap?).

What you end up with is an escalating cycle of secrecy and violence, tearing apart the preconceptions that regular Americans hold dear, like "The USA is number one" and "The USA is too big to mess with" (even the attacks on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon didn't do anything to change that). Deterrence goes some way toward educating those unfortunates that bad guys do hit back (Lockerbie anyone?) until the final twist where everyone in North America comes out ok: it panders too much to their sense of invulnerability.

Still, it's a good watch with lots of tension and unspoken agendas. Watch it on a week night to get the best out of it.

Security censorship classification

M (Low level coarse language, medium level violence)

Surveillance time

103 minutes (1:43 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

VHS rental: 20 March 2002