Samuel L Jackson deftly mixes charm and chill as a family man who's job requires he does whatever is necessary, when necessary.
It becomes necessary when it's discovered that somewhere in the US there are three nuclear bombs. It's Jackson's mission to extract their location from the captured Muslim bomb-maker (Michael Sheen) before they detonate.
While this may sound rather '24', the focus of 'Unthinkable' is on the psychological rather than the pyrotechnic and poses the post Guantanamo Bay question: How far can a civilised society go to protect itself? FBI Agent Carrie Anne Moss initially has no doubts about the answer to that question, and is appalled by Jackson's methods against an American citizen. However her beliefs (and those of the audience) are challenged as time begins to run out and the terrorist shows no sign of cracking.
"We're afraid, they're not. We have doubt, they believe." Observes Jackson, while pointing out that Sheen, although at the mercy of his captors, retains overall control of the situation. And Sheen, as a determined man resigned to his fate does well to evoke, if not quite sympathy, empathy.
"Unthinkable" is essentially a Morality Play that paints with a broad brush, yet works well as a taut Ticking Clock thriller.
It becomes necessary when it's discovered that somewhere in the US there are three nuclear bombs. It's Jackson's mission to extract their location from the captured Muslim bomb-maker (Michael Sheen) before they detonate.
While this may sound rather '24', the focus of 'Unthinkable' is on the psychological rather than the pyrotechnic and poses the post Guantanamo Bay question: How far can a civilised society go to protect itself? FBI Agent Carrie Anne Moss initially has no doubts about the answer to that question, and is appalled by Jackson's methods against an American citizen. However her beliefs (and those of the audience) are challenged as time begins to run out and the terrorist shows no sign of cracking.
"We're afraid, they're not. We have doubt, they believe." Observes Jackson, while pointing out that Sheen, although at the mercy of his captors, retains overall control of the situation. And Sheen, as a determined man resigned to his fate does well to evoke, if not quite sympathy, empathy.
"Unthinkable" is essentially a Morality Play that paints with a broad brush, yet works well as a taut Ticking Clock thriller.