Cast of Characters:
John Cale - Channing Tatum
President James W. Sawyer - Jamie Foxx
Carol Finnerty - Maggie Gyllenhaal
Emil Stenz - Jason Clarke
Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson - Richard Jenkins
Emily Cale - Joey King
Martin Walker - James Woods
Director - Roland Emmerich
Screenplay - James Vanderbilt
Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence including intense gunfire and explosions, some language and a brief sexual image
John Cale - Channing Tatum
President James W. Sawyer - Jamie Foxx
Carol Finnerty - Maggie Gyllenhaal
Emil Stenz - Jason Clarke
Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson - Richard Jenkins
Emily Cale - Joey King
Martin Walker - James Woods
Director - Roland Emmerich
Screenplay - James Vanderbilt
Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence including intense gunfire and explosions, some language and a brief sexual image
Channing Tatum, Jason Clarke, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx and Academy Award nominees Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Jenkins and James Woods star in the new action thriller from Roland Emmerich, White House Down.
US Capitol Police officer John Cale (Channing Tatum) is an Afghanistan vet as well as a divorce. Despite his military service, his overall lackluster resume results in him not being recommended for the US president’s secret service detail by Secret Service Agent Carol Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal). On that same day, he manages to score White House tour passes through a friend that works there, which he feels will score him major brownie points with his daughter Emily (Joey King) - a child political junkie.
Meanwhile, President James W. Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) is trying to get a Middle East peace plan passed. While discussing the matter with Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (Richard Jenkins), a group of domestic terrorists led by Emil Stenz (Jason Clarke) take over the White House, kidnaping Emily in the process. That’s when John flips the switch and turns into “John McClane” mode, risking life and limb to save not only his daughter but the president himself.
Roland Emmerich has directed and co-written some greatly entertaining films during the 90's such as Independence Day, The Patriot, and so sue me if I’m the only one who enjoyed Stargate and Godzilla. However with the exception of The Patriot (2000), the 21st century has not been as kind to him. The Day After Tomorrow was too preachy. 10,000 BC was too cheesy and contained some surprisingly horrible special effects for an Emmerich film. Anonymous was as preposterous of a story as one could get, and 2012, despite the amazing visual effects, took itself too seriously (Woody Harrelson was perfect for his role, though). So could Emmerich bounce back here? The answer is no... no, no, no, no, no. You could call this Olympus Has Fallen: Part II, but despite Olympus Has Fallen not being all that good, compared to this film, I'm almost willing to nominate it for a Best Picture Oscar. Not only does White House Down not provide Emmerich with the “springboard” film he needs, I believe this to be his worst film ever. It’s almost a marvel at how screenwriter James Vanderbilt could cram as many dumb characters into one story setting as he does here. I’m rather flabbergasted that this is the same writer that penned Zodiac - one of David Fincher’s best films and one of the best crime thrillers of the past 10 years. In White House Down everyone is at best a moron. The terrorists are able to sneak into the White House with such ease I actually started thinking maybe we don’t fund Homeland Security enough. I find it hard to believe any 10-12 year old child would have the balls big enough to stand up to the terrorists like Joey King does here. For being such a pacifistic president, Jamie Foxx changes from John Lennon to John Rambo rather quickly, and if anything, Jason Clarke, who gave an Oscar worthy performance in last year's Zero Dark Thirty, has his talent wasted playing such a cardboard cutout villain. Any attempt at humor falls flat quicker than the joke can even be sputtered out. The supposed "twists" I could see coming from miles and miles and miles away, and for such a talented cast plus Channing Tatum, the acting's somewhat bad. A part of me wonders how many takes it took for them to get their scenes done 'cause it seems impossible to me that they could've held a straight face for as long as they did.
Meanwhile, President James W. Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) is trying to get a Middle East peace plan passed. While discussing the matter with Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (Richard Jenkins), a group of domestic terrorists led by Emil Stenz (Jason Clarke) take over the White House, kidnaping Emily in the process. That’s when John flips the switch and turns into “John McClane” mode, risking life and limb to save not only his daughter but the president himself.
Roland Emmerich has directed and co-written some greatly entertaining films during the 90's such as Independence Day, The Patriot, and so sue me if I’m the only one who enjoyed Stargate and Godzilla. However with the exception of The Patriot (2000), the 21st century has not been as kind to him. The Day After Tomorrow was too preachy. 10,000 BC was too cheesy and contained some surprisingly horrible special effects for an Emmerich film. Anonymous was as preposterous of a story as one could get, and 2012, despite the amazing visual effects, took itself too seriously (Woody Harrelson was perfect for his role, though). So could Emmerich bounce back here? The answer is no... no, no, no, no, no. You could call this Olympus Has Fallen: Part II, but despite Olympus Has Fallen not being all that good, compared to this film, I'm almost willing to nominate it for a Best Picture Oscar. Not only does White House Down not provide Emmerich with the “springboard” film he needs, I believe this to be his worst film ever. It’s almost a marvel at how screenwriter James Vanderbilt could cram as many dumb characters into one story setting as he does here. I’m rather flabbergasted that this is the same writer that penned Zodiac - one of David Fincher’s best films and one of the best crime thrillers of the past 10 years. In White House Down everyone is at best a moron. The terrorists are able to sneak into the White House with such ease I actually started thinking maybe we don’t fund Homeland Security enough. I find it hard to believe any 10-12 year old child would have the balls big enough to stand up to the terrorists like Joey King does here. For being such a pacifistic president, Jamie Foxx changes from John Lennon to John Rambo rather quickly, and if anything, Jason Clarke, who gave an Oscar worthy performance in last year's Zero Dark Thirty, has his talent wasted playing such a cardboard cutout villain. Any attempt at humor falls flat quicker than the joke can even be sputtered out. The supposed "twists" I could see coming from miles and miles and miles away, and for such a talented cast plus Channing Tatum, the acting's somewhat bad. A part of me wonders how many takes it took for them to get their scenes done 'cause it seems impossible to me that they could've held a straight face for as long as they did.
I'm just gonna say it. I think Roland Emmerich needs to team back up with former co-writer/producer Dean Devlin. I think it's more than coincidence that ever since Emmerich started doing films without Devlin on board they've progressively gotten worse and worse. Emmerich is certainly a talented filmmaker as far as directing is concerned. The stories are just weak, and in this case, it's garbage. Honestly, though, I feel like I'm doing a huge disservice to garbage by comparing it to this film. I give White House Down a D- (½★).
REVIEWS COMING LATER NEXT WEEK...
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Top 50 Movies of All-Time: Part I
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
The Lone Ranger
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