The Peacemaker

100401 / 16 / US 1997 / Leder, Mimi / action

The Peacemaker / Rauhantekijä. PC: DreamWorks LLC. P: Branko Lustig. D: Mimi Leder. CAST: George Clooney, Nicole Kidman. 125’. Scope. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Timo Porri / Eirik Udd. DIST: UIP Finland. Viewed at VET, Helsinki, on Monday, 15 September 1997. *** Breathtakingly produced gung-ho action extravaganza. The US Nuclear Smuggling Group (= Kidman) and the Army’s elite Special Forces (= Clooney) save New York City from nuclear holocaust by thwarting a doomsday scenario of raving Russian and Serbian lunatics who seize a missile transport train in darkest Siberia. Brilliant production values can’t hide fundamental confusion of style. The Peacemaker is too bitter and militaristic for a James Bond / Indiana Jones style adventure and too cliched and facile to be taken seriously. Clooney and Kidman are not at their best, nor is there much spark between them. Mimi Leder creates exciting situations but the basic flow is not strong enough.