Mission Mountain Movies: Unthinkable

Since the attacks of Sept. 11 almost 10 years ago, many movies have been made about other terrorist attacks being carried out on American soil. While these types of movies were also made prior to the attacks, the intensity, and realism, has certainly picked up in the more recent entries in the terror-genre. The relevance remains to this day, as we’ve heard reports, even as recently as two weeks ago, of plots to unleash destruction on American civilians. Most recently was the alleged planned attack in Portland, Ore. by Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a 19-year old apparently bent on “violent jihad.”

Many of the movies about terrorism have received flak because of their portrayal of Muslims from the Middle East as the attacker(s). We’ve seen “The Siege,” an incredible film that predicted, in a way, some of the backlash in post-9/11 New York City. A recent entry in the terrorism genre, released straight to DVD in June of this year, is “Unthinkable,” and deals with terrorism, torture and human morality in a deadly scenario: Would you kill one person to save many?

Terrorism may have felt like a far-away concept for many in Lake County, but the news out of Portland must have brought it home a least a little more. “Unthinkable” stars Samuel L. Jackson as a tough-as-nails secret government asset named “H,” Carrie Ann-Moss as FBI Special Agent Helen Brody, head of the Los Angeles counter-terrorism unit, and Michael Sheen as Steven Arthur Younger, who has converted to Islam and now goes by the name Yusuf Atta Mohammed. Younger has submitted a video to law enforcement implicating that he has placed three nuclear bombs in three different American cities; his film shows him standing in front of the bombs in nondescript rooms at the different locations.

An elite task force is comprised, including Agent Brody, not to find the suspect Younger but to determine the location of the bombs. When Brody is transported to a classified location, she runs into H, who her team had previously detained as a potential terrorist, but who turns out to be a world-class, Guantanamo Bay-type interrogator.

Once on-site, Brody learns Younger has already been detained and is being tortured to force him to reveal the bombs locations. Brody is upset by the tactics, and would rather speak to him and learn where the bombs are. The seasoned H knows this tactic won’t work, and takes to more extreme torture, which Brody at first detests, until she realizes it may be the only solution in a war that has no boundaries…even when the unthinkable is a reality.

The acting is great, and Jackson, as always, is one bad mo-fo. Something about the guy oozes confidence and smugness, as if he’s the only one in on the joke. This works perfectly for a character like H. Sheen, who was brilliant as David Frost in “Frost/Nixon,” is similarly great in his role as Younger, though his accent from the other side of the pond seems to leak out quite a bit, especially under extreme duress which, let’s face it, he’s in almost the whole movie. Ann-Moss (“The Matrix”) is competent as Brody and complements the other characters well as one of the main characters.

While some of the plotlines are 100 percent realistic, that isn’t what makes this movie great. It’s the situations that force the characters hands, that make them think about their moral code and how to act in certain scenarios. Like I said, something like this could happen in the future; the question remains, how will those that need to make the decisions act under fire?

I’d give the film 9 out of 10 stars. I really enjoyed it and watched it more than once. When you play the DVD, you’ll have an option to watch the original or extended version; trust me, watch the extended. It’s not much longer but well worth the added twist.