Rating of
2.5/4
Unthinkable
Bizarro - wrote on 09/29/11
When I first heard about this, there was something in me that wanted to go watch it. Even if it sounded like a B Grade actioner mixed with Sum of All Fears.
One of the reasons was probably because it has three great and talented actors, and they alone after watching it lift it from obscurity. Samuel L. Jackson is probably one of my favourite actors, because he really delves in his characters, to bring them to life. In Unthinkable it's no different, although his is probably the least rootable of the three. Michael Sheen pulls out all the stops as the terrorist, who's performance is so gut-wrenchingly sincere you really do believe he thinks what he's doing is right. Carrie-Anne Moss is by far the most humane character. She plays the FBI agent assigned to getting the truth from the terrorist, and after watching her watching Sam Jackson's interrogator going berserk in there, one feels a real sense of anger and hopelesness for her. This has to be her most emotional role I've seen, and she excells.
The film itself is somewhat hard to watch, be it in the steady build of tension towards the rather unexpected finale, or in the gruesome and unrelenting torture scenes. By the end of it, I actually began rooting for Michael Sheen, hoping that he'll pull off some wild and miraculous escape.
Still, the only real good reason to watch it is for the main performances. Other than that, it's missable.
