Unthinkable
Encyclopedia
Unthinkable is an American suspense thriller film directed by Gregor Jordan
and starring Samuel L. Jackson
, Michael Sheen
and Carrie-Anne Moss
. It was released direct-to-video
on June 14, 2010.
A special interrogator, "H" (Samuel L. Jackson), is brought in to force Yusuf to reveal the locations of the nuclear bombs. H quickly shows his capability and cruelty by chopping off one of Yusuf's fingers with a small hatchet. Horrified, Special Agent Brody attempts to put a stop to the measures. Her superiors make it clear that the potentially disastrous consequences necessitate these extreme measures. As the plot unfolds, H escalates his methods (with Brody as the "good cop"). Brody realizes that Yusef anticipated that he would be tortured. Yusuf then makes his demands: he would like the President of the United States to announce a cessation of support for "puppet governments
" and dictatorships in Muslim countries and a withdrawal of American troops from all Muslim countries. The group immediately dismisses the possibility of his demands being met, citing the United States' declared policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
When Brody accuses Yusuf of faking the bomb threat in order to make a point about the moral character of the United States government, he breaks down and agrees that it was all a ruse. He gives her an address to prove it. They find a room that matches the scene in the video tape and find evidence on the roof. A soldier removes a picture from a electrical switch which triggers a tremendous C-4
explosion at a nearby shopping mall visible from the roof. The explosion kills 53 people. Angry at the senseless deaths, Brody returns to Yusef and cuts his chest with a scalpel. Yusuf is unafraid and demands she cut him. He justifies the deaths in the shopping mall, stating that the Americans kill that many Muslims every day. Yusuf says he allowed himself to be caught so he could face his oppressors.
H questions whether Yusef will reveal the bombs' location unless Yusuf's wife is found. When she is detained, H brings her in front of her husband and threatens to mutilate her in front of him. Brody and the others begin to take her away from the room in disgust. Out of desperation, H slashes her throat and she bleeds to death in front of Yusuf. Still without cooperation, H tells the soldiers to bring in Yusuf's two children, a young boy and a girl. Outside of Yusuf's hearing, he assures everyone that he will not harm the children. Yusef's children are brought in and H makes it clear that he will torture them if the locations of the bombs are not divulged. Yusuf breaks and gives three addresses (in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas), but H does not stop, forcing the others to intervene. Citing the amount of missing nuclear material Yusuf potentially had at his disposal (some 15–18 lbs. were reported missing, with about 4½ lbs. needed per device), H insists that Yusuf has not admitted anything about a hence-unreferenced fourth bomb. H points out that everything Yusuf has done so far has been planned meticulously. He knew the torture would most likely break him, and he would have been certain to plant a fourth bomb, just in case.
Here it becomes clear that the purpose of the preceding torture was not to break Yusuf, but rather to make it clear to him what would happen to his children if he did not cooperate.
The official in charge of the operation demands that H bring Yusuf's children back in for further interrogation. H demands that Brody bring the children back in, because her decency will give him the moral approval that he needs to do the "unthinkable". When Brody refuses to retrieve the children for H, he unstraps Yusuf, sarcastically setting him free. The official draws his pistol and aims it at H to coerce him into further interrogation. Yusuf grabs the official's gun. He asks Brody to take care of his children and kills himself. Brody walks out of the building with Yusuf's children (This is the end of the original direct-to-DVD version).
Extended version
An FBI bomb disposal team arrives at one of the disclosed locations and resets the timer to prevent the bomb from going off. As the FBI are celebrating however, behind a nearby crate, the originally unconfirmed fourth bomb's timer counts down to zero. The screen immediately cuts to black and the credits roll.
from Freddy Krueger
". A similar point is raised by DVD columnist Sean Axmaker who calls the film "a clumsy polemic that bounces between the boundaries of stage-play debate and torture porn spectacle".
Critic Rohit Rao recommends the movie with 3 and half stars stating "This brings me to the single most impressive characterization in the entire film. Samuel L. Jackson turns in a powerhouse performance here. He brings his trademark intensity to H's character and somehow makes him brutally direct and mysterious at the same time. After the opening scenes set him up as a loving family man, we are unprepared for the incredible capacity for violence that also resides within him. While many of the characters perceive H as a shackled monster who is doing their bidding, he carries himself as a prisoner of his own abilities. Everybody has a role to play and he accepts his because he can do things that nobody else will even allow themselves to consider"
Gregor Jordan
Gregor Jordan is an Australian film director.Jordan's films include Two Hands , Buffalo Soldiers , and Ned Kelly . He has also directed the concert video These Days: Live in Concert by Australian rock band Powderfinger.His film Two Hands won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction...
and starring Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, Michael Sheen
Michael Sheen
Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
and Carrie-Anne Moss
Carrie-Anne Moss
-External links:...
. It was released direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
on June 14, 2010.
Plot
The film begins with an American Muslim man named Yusuf (Sheen), formerly named Younger, making a videotape. When FBI Special Agent Helen Brody (Moss) and her team see news bulletins looking for Yusuf, they launch an investigation, which is curtailed when they are summoned to a high school, which has been converted into a black site under military command. They are shown Yusuf's complete tape, where he threatens to detonate three nuclear bombs in separate U.S. cities if his demands are not met.A special interrogator, "H" (Samuel L. Jackson), is brought in to force Yusuf to reveal the locations of the nuclear bombs. H quickly shows his capability and cruelty by chopping off one of Yusuf's fingers with a small hatchet. Horrified, Special Agent Brody attempts to put a stop to the measures. Her superiors make it clear that the potentially disastrous consequences necessitate these extreme measures. As the plot unfolds, H escalates his methods (with Brody as the "good cop"). Brody realizes that Yusef anticipated that he would be tortured. Yusuf then makes his demands: he would like the President of the United States to announce a cessation of support for "puppet governments
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
" and dictatorships in Muslim countries and a withdrawal of American troops from all Muslim countries. The group immediately dismisses the possibility of his demands being met, citing the United States' declared policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
When Brody accuses Yusuf of faking the bomb threat in order to make a point about the moral character of the United States government, he breaks down and agrees that it was all a ruse. He gives her an address to prove it. They find a room that matches the scene in the video tape and find evidence on the roof. A soldier removes a picture from a electrical switch which triggers a tremendous C-4
C-4 (explosive)
C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
explosion at a nearby shopping mall visible from the roof. The explosion kills 53 people. Angry at the senseless deaths, Brody returns to Yusef and cuts his chest with a scalpel. Yusuf is unafraid and demands she cut him. He justifies the deaths in the shopping mall, stating that the Americans kill that many Muslims every day. Yusuf says he allowed himself to be caught so he could face his oppressors.
H questions whether Yusef will reveal the bombs' location unless Yusuf's wife is found. When she is detained, H brings her in front of her husband and threatens to mutilate her in front of him. Brody and the others begin to take her away from the room in disgust. Out of desperation, H slashes her throat and she bleeds to death in front of Yusuf. Still without cooperation, H tells the soldiers to bring in Yusuf's two children, a young boy and a girl. Outside of Yusuf's hearing, he assures everyone that he will not harm the children. Yusef's children are brought in and H makes it clear that he will torture them if the locations of the bombs are not divulged. Yusuf breaks and gives three addresses (in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas), but H does not stop, forcing the others to intervene. Citing the amount of missing nuclear material Yusuf potentially had at his disposal (some 15–18 lbs. were reported missing, with about 4½ lbs. needed per device), H insists that Yusuf has not admitted anything about a hence-unreferenced fourth bomb. H points out that everything Yusuf has done so far has been planned meticulously. He knew the torture would most likely break him, and he would have been certain to plant a fourth bomb, just in case.
Here it becomes clear that the purpose of the preceding torture was not to break Yusuf, but rather to make it clear to him what would happen to his children if he did not cooperate.
The official in charge of the operation demands that H bring Yusuf's children back in for further interrogation. H demands that Brody bring the children back in, because her decency will give him the moral approval that he needs to do the "unthinkable". When Brody refuses to retrieve the children for H, he unstraps Yusuf, sarcastically setting him free. The official draws his pistol and aims it at H to coerce him into further interrogation. Yusuf grabs the official's gun. He asks Brody to take care of his children and kills himself. Brody walks out of the building with Yusuf's children (This is the end of the original direct-to-DVD version).
Extended version
An FBI bomb disposal team arrives at one of the disclosed locations and resets the timer to prevent the bomb from going off. As the FBI are celebrating however, behind a nearby crate, the originally unconfirmed fourth bomb's timer counts down to zero. The screen immediately cuts to black and the credits roll.
Reception
Policy adviser Charles V. Peña opines that "Ultimately, [Unthinkable] is about the age-old question, 'Do the ends justify the means?'... In the end, Unthinkable doesn’t answer the question... but does provide plenty of food for thought". Film reviewer Matthew Alford argues that "the aesthetic realism and apparent seriousness of Unthinkable is a mask for the absurdity of its content and reactionary politics" making it more than just a "nightmare scenario" but rather "a white paperWhite paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
from Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...
". A similar point is raised by DVD columnist Sean Axmaker who calls the film "a clumsy polemic that bounces between the boundaries of stage-play debate and torture porn spectacle".
Critic Rohit Rao recommends the movie with 3 and half stars stating "This brings me to the single most impressive characterization in the entire film. Samuel L. Jackson turns in a powerhouse performance here. He brings his trademark intensity to H's character and somehow makes him brutally direct and mysterious at the same time. After the opening scenes set him up as a loving family man, we are unprepared for the incredible capacity for violence that also resides within him. While many of the characters perceive H as a shackled monster who is doing their bidding, he carries himself as a prisoner of his own abilities. Everybody has a role to play and he accepts his because he can do things that nobody else will even allow themselves to consider"
Cast
- Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
- Henry Harold Humphries aka 'H', a black-ops agent assigned to interrogate Yusuf - Michael SheenMichael SheenMichael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
- Yusuf Atta Mohammed / Steven Arthur Younger, an American Muslim who has planted nuclear bombs in three U.S. cities - Carrie-Anne MossCarrie-Anne Moss-External links:...
- Agent Helen Brody, the leader of an FBI counter-terrorism team assigned to interrogate Yusuf - Brandon RouthBrandon RouthBrandon James Routh is an American actor and former fashion model. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on multiple television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2006, he gained greater recognition for his role as the titular hero...
- Agent DJ Jackson, a member of the FBI team - Benito MartinezBenito Martinez (actor)Benito Martinez is an American actor most known for his role as police captain David Aceveda in FX Networks' acclaimed crime drama The Shield...
- Alvarez, assistant of 'H' - Gil BellowsGil BellowsGil Bellows is a Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in The Shawshank Redemption, Billy Thomas in the television series Ally McBeal and as CIA agent Matt Callan in the television series The Agency.-Early life:Bellows was born in Vancouver, British...
- Agent Vincent, a member of the FBI team - Joshua HartoJoshua HartoJoshua Denver Harto is an American actor, television writer and television producer.He has guest starred in a number of notable television series, including American Dreams, Carnivàle, Crossing Jordan, JAG, Strangers with Candy, The Practice, Cold Case and more...
- Agent Phillips - Martin DonovanMartin DonovanMartin Donovan is an American stage and film actor. He has had a long collaboration with the director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, including Trust , Surviving Desire , Simple Men , Flirt , Amateur , and The Book of Life...
- Jack Saunders, FBI director who assigns the interrogation - Stephen RootStephen RootStephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
- Charles Thomson - Necar ZadeganNecar ZadeganNecar Zadegan is an Iranian Americanfilm, television actress and model. She is best known for her recurring role as First Lady Dalia Hassan on the eighth and final season of 24.-Life and career:...
- Jehan Younger, Yusuf's wife - Michael RoseMichael RoseMichael Rose is a Grammy award winning reggae singer from Jamaica. Possessing a wide-ranged voice, Rose would regularly meet in Kingston with singers, musicians, writers, and producers such as Dennis Brown, Big Youth, The Wailers, Gregory Isaacs, Sly and Robbie, and others.-Career:Rose started his...
- Colonel Kerkmejian - Holmes OsborneHolmes OsborneHolmes Osborne is an American actor, best known for starring in Richard Kelly's films - Donnie Darko , Southland Tales and The Box . He's also played the father of Guy Patterson in the movie That Thing You Do!, and starred in the movie Bring it On. He has made appearances in TV shows such as...
- General Paulson, the General leading the interrogation