Rest in Peace
The Peacemaker Leaves Audience Wanting

In a post-Cold War world, Hollywood has lost its favorite bad guys -- the Soviets -- for political/action thrillers like Ian Flemming's James Bond or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Nevertheless, Hollywood has an overwhelming desire to use nuclear weapons as a storyline if only for the reason that they are scary and everyone agrees they are bad. So the question arises how to use nukes in a story without using Soviets. Luckily, there are always people willing to do desperate things for desperate causes.

In The Peacemaker, the bad guys are no longer Soviets, but they are still Russian. Rather than being motivated by an unwavering patriotism for the Rodina, General Kodoroff (Alexander Baluev) is motivated by something stronger: greed. While it first appears to the United States that an unknown terrorist or terrorists may have absconded with the atomic arsenal, it quickly becomes evident that the Russian general is merely the delivery boy for someone else. The chilling question, though, is who?

Nicole Kidman plays Dr. Julia Kelly, a scientist who spent the early part of her career creating nuclear weapons and now helps the United States government analyse nuclear threats. Her job description is unclear (or maybe I just missed it), but she is quickly put in charge of the task force when she suggests that a nuclear explosion in the Ural mountains was deliberate and not caused by a train wreck.

Dr. Kelly's liaison to the military is Col. Tom Devoe (George Clooney) a problematic Ranger who has connections in the former Soviet military. It is Devoe who (upon hearing General Kodoroff's name) realizes the highjacking was an inside job. Kodoroff is motivated by money, pure and simple, but Kelly wants to know who he is planning to sell the missiles to. When they trace the truck on a road to the Iranian border, the answer to her question seems all too evident.

As an action movie, The Peacemaker is not half bad. It is more predictable than I suspected, but there are a couple of nice twists which make it interesting. Its attempts at becoming a serious political thriller are laughable and ultimately frustrating.

While the first half of the movie seems like a combination of James Bond and Jack Ryan, the latter half consists of a chase scene reminiscent of Mel Gibson's Ransom. The Peacemaker doesn't seem to decide if it wants to be an action movie or something more. At times, it seems to be mindless car chases and explosions. Underneath, though, are some interesting questions which are touched upon but never explored.

For example, how desperate for money are soldiers in the Russian army that they would sell nuclear weapons? More interestingly is Dr. Kelly's statement, "I'm not concerned with someone who steals ten nuclear weapons. I'm worried about the person who only needs one." The chilling implications of such a statement in a world of terrorism should have been explored in greater depth.

Ultimately, the movie falls apart in too many areas. First, the use of computer technology is dubious at best. This is a major failing in Hollywood, where every computer is ostensibly attached to the Internet on a T1 connection and computer software can magnify pictures to read license plates from space. Second, the chain of command (militarily speaking) does not ring true. I find it hard to believe that the joint chiefs of staff would let Dr. Kelly make the decision to invade Russian airspace.

While The Peacemaker makes for a pleasant diversion, action fans may not enjoy it enough to sit through the slow stretches of dialog and panoramic camera shots of scenic vistas. Those interested in a good political thriller may be put off by the mindless car chases. I'm reminded of the old fable which reminds us that you can't please everyone. The Peacemaker tries... and fails..

MY RATING: 6 out of 10.

RATED: R
RUN TIME: 122 min.