"The Peacemaker" is another politically loaded action thriller in which the theft of atomic warheads being transported by train turns out to be a terrorist act. But have no fear: on the case is a supremely self-confident American field agent (George Clooney) and a capable if inexperienced nuclear weapons expert (Nicole Kidman). They traverse the globe trying to find the culprits responsible; the main baddie is a man named Gavrich (Romanian actor Marcel Iures) who turns out to have a personal motivation behind the whole thing.
Mimi Leder made a decent enough feature filmmaking debut with this movie, inspired by an article by Leslie and Andrew Cockburn. It doesn't really offer us things that we haven't seen before, but Leder and company were probably smart in making the script often take a back seat to some first-rate action sequences orchestrated by second unit director Conrad Palmisano (a veteran stuntman and stunt co-ordinator). The movie on the whole is pretty entertaining, giving us some reasonably exciting moments as well as some more plot-heavy scenes to allow us time to catch our breaths. It never does top its opening minutes, with a very atmospheric nighttime robbery of these aforementioned warheads.
The cast is loaded with a bunch of familiar and reliable actors. Clooney is charismatic as usual, although he and the typically sexy Kidman don't exactly get a chance to flesh these characters out all that much. The international supporting cast includes such familiar faces as Randall Batinkoff, Jim Haynie, Holt McCallany, Michael Boatman, and the always wonderful German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl as an old friend of Clooney's. Co-star Gary Werntz, who plays Hamilton, is Leders' real-life husband. Iures is a standout as the kind of sad-faced "villain" whom we can definitely understand without condoning his actions.
As far as this kind of topical entertainment goes, "The Peacemaker" delivers adequate thrills. The cinematography and camera-work are first-rate, and pacing is efficient. At the very least, it prevented this viewer from constantly checking his watch.
Seven out of 10.
Mimi Leder made a decent enough feature filmmaking debut with this movie, inspired by an article by Leslie and Andrew Cockburn. It doesn't really offer us things that we haven't seen before, but Leder and company were probably smart in making the script often take a back seat to some first-rate action sequences orchestrated by second unit director Conrad Palmisano (a veteran stuntman and stunt co-ordinator). The movie on the whole is pretty entertaining, giving us some reasonably exciting moments as well as some more plot-heavy scenes to allow us time to catch our breaths. It never does top its opening minutes, with a very atmospheric nighttime robbery of these aforementioned warheads.
The cast is loaded with a bunch of familiar and reliable actors. Clooney is charismatic as usual, although he and the typically sexy Kidman don't exactly get a chance to flesh these characters out all that much. The international supporting cast includes such familiar faces as Randall Batinkoff, Jim Haynie, Holt McCallany, Michael Boatman, and the always wonderful German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl as an old friend of Clooney's. Co-star Gary Werntz, who plays Hamilton, is Leders' real-life husband. Iures is a standout as the kind of sad-faced "villain" whom we can definitely understand without condoning his actions.
As far as this kind of topical entertainment goes, "The Peacemaker" delivers adequate thrills. The cinematography and camera-work are first-rate, and pacing is efficient. At the very least, it prevented this viewer from constantly checking his watch.
Seven out of 10.