BEFORE: One more film, then I'll finish packing - yesterday I half-filled my suitcase with the office supplies and promo materials I'll need in San Diego, then stood there wondering what I was forgetting to pack, and I was drawing a complete blank. You'd think I'd never done this before...
From a film about a federal anti-narcotics squad, to a film about a federal anti-terrorism squad. Let's get back to a more heroic Denzel Washington...
THE PLOT: The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist sparks a wave of terrorist attacks in New York that lead to the declaration of martial law.
AFTER: I was reminded today that the anniversary of 9/11 is coming up - and I think I'll be in the middle of an entirely different chain of films then, so let's just say I'm honoring the event early, OK? Although this film was made in 1998, it's uncanny how accurate this film was - of course, they were probably riffing off of the earlier attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 (I happened to be one block away from it at the time...). But if you substitute planes for a van, and the WTC for 1 Federal Plaza, this film pretty much hit the mark, 3 years in advance.
It's also a look at how federal agents operated, prior to the passing of the USA Patriot Act. (or as I like to call it, the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act"). This is pre-waterboarding, pre-Abu Ghraib prison, etc. So Denzel Washington's character, FBI Agent Anthony Hubbard, is actually concerned about suspects' rights, and naively believes that you can negotiate with terrorists - though he soon learns that's unlikely.
At some points, the FBI and the U.S. Army seem to be working at cross purposes, which actually seems quite believable - the feds are apprehending a suspect inside a building, while the army is trying to blow the same building to pieces. What the film also gets right is the impact of a terrorist event - the cancellation of sporting events, the rounding up of Muslims, the trampling of civil rights, and the moral quandaries that surround the interrogation (torture) of prisoners.
There were a few twists that were a little hard for me to follow, like I didn't get why Annette Bening's character seemed to change her name halfway through the picture - but for the most part this was a good, gripping storyline.
Also starring Bruce Willis (I wish I'd known that, I'd have paired this film with "Live Free or Die Hard"...), Tony Shalhoub (last seen in "A Civil Action"), Lance Reddick (from "Oz" and "The Wire"), David Proval (best known as Richie Aprile from "The Sopranos") and Aasif Mandvi (future correspondent for "The Daily Show").
RATING: 7 out of 10 sleeper cells
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