Deterrence (1999)

The President of the United States must deal with an international military crisis while confined to a Colorado diner during a freak snowstorm

Director:

Rod Lurie

Writer:

Rod Lurie

Stars:

Kevin Pollak, Timothy Hutton, Sheryl Lee Ralph

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as James Curly)
Rigg Kennedy	...	Howard

Storyline

After the death of the President, his successor is on the campaign trail to be re-elected. On a stop in Colorado, he is suddenly snowed in and he and his entourage are forced to take shelter in a small diner. Of course, the group completely take over from the diner's owner and his French-Canadian waitress. Also in the diner is a local redneck and a married couple. Suddenly, the movie moves into a suspense film as the President learns that Iraq has invaded Kuwait and slaughtered hundreds of American soldiers. Setting up temporary communications, the President announces that he will launch a nuclear attack on Iraq immediately if the country does not withdraw. Iraq reacts that they have 23 nuclear missiles trained on the US that they are ready to launch. Tensions mount with the involved civilians offering a different viewpoint to the President from the normal opinions of his advisers.

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Plot Keywords:

diner | iraq | colorado | kuwait | french canadian | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount Classics

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Crise dos Mísseis

Box Office

Budget:

$800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$23,318 (USA) (10 March 2000)

Gross:

$144,583 (USA) (19 May 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Battleplan Productions, Moonstone Entertainment, TF1 International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (FotoKem) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The combination to unlock the nuclear suitcase is 08061945 (August 6, 1945), which is the date the United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

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Goofs

There are ships visible at the base of the mushroom cloud that is supposed to be at Bahgdad.

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Quotes

President Walter Emerson: I didn't say anything about abort mission, I said hold position. Don't play your fucking game with me admiral!

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Soundtracks

"Ghosts"
Written by Noah Stone
Performed by Noah Stone

User Reviews

Not a great movie, but surprising in February of 2003

This 1999 film features an appointed Vice President who assumes Presidential power upon the death of the President -- ergo, a completely unelected President. Interesting concept but more importantly, the basic plot has this President forced to face a major crisis in Iraq when all of his diplomatic and military power is concentrated on a crisis in Korea. Somebody must be reading this script in Washington right now -- but they switched the locations.

At any rate, all of the ranting negative reviews and the flowery positive reviews I have seen here on IMDB about this film seem to me to miss the point. What happens in the film is of limited note compared to very strange feeling of "deja now" watching this film in February, 2003 while watching its big brother on CNN live. See this film! It's interesting, a bit disturbing, and sightly prescient (only partially I hope).