MOVIE OF THE WEEK (6/28/13): WHITE HOUSE DOWN
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, Jason Clarke, James Woods and Nicolas "Nic" Wright
WRITER(S): James Vanderbilt
DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich
WEB SITE: http://www.whitehousedown.com/site/
THE PLOT: Coming a few months on the heels of this year's other the-White-House-is-under-attack movie, Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down stars Channing Tatum as John Cale, a Capitol police officer who aspires to one day work for the Secret Service. After all, as a decorated Middle East veteran, Cale is confident he haves the skills necessary to protect the president. Even if he doesn't get the job, Cale can at least take comfort in the fact he got his 11 year-old daughter Emily (Joey King) tickets to take a tour of the White House ... And she finally might grown to at least like him as a father.
Meanwhile, Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhall) - the woman with whom Cale will interview for the position - is a preparing to attend a retirement party for her boss,Walker (James Woods), head of security for President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). A big fan of Abraham Lincoln, President Sawyer has a plan in place to put an end to violence in the Middle East that, if signed by men like Speaker of the House Ralpheson (Richard Jenkins), could be revolutionary in regards to world peace.
There's just one little problem: A bunch of men wearing disguises are about to put a major dent in Cale's plans for his job interview/father-daughter day ... Unless, that is, someone decides to stop them and save the President.
Meanwhile, Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhall) - the woman with whom Cale will interview for the position - is a preparing to attend a retirement party for her boss,Walker (James Woods), head of security for President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). A big fan of Abraham Lincoln, President Sawyer has a plan in place to put an end to violence in the Middle East that, if signed by men like Speaker of the House Ralpheson (Richard Jenkins), could be revolutionary in regards to world peace.
There's just one little problem: A bunch of men wearing disguises are about to put a major dent in Cale's plans for his job interview/father-daughter day ... Unless, that is, someone decides to stop them and save the President.
THE TAKE: In describing White House Down, I am inclined to think of something from a place that is very well known that, at its mere mention, would seemingly have NOTHING to do with the film in question. But I would argue that it makes perfect sense upon seeing the movie, because the description of said item fits the movie to a tea. And what is that item? A slice of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.
For as anyone who's eaten at the palace of sugar that is The Cheesecake Factory knows, it's very hard to eat one of their delectable desserts and not know that it is [1] Not good for your diet, [2] Doing nothing to improve your health and [3] Costs more than you should be willing to spend in comparison to similar options yet is [4] Too delicious to not enjoy. In turn, White House Down is outrageous, over-the-top, cheesy (at times) and features a convoluted plot filled with one-liners straight out of a late 80s/early 90s action movie. At the same time, however, the film is loaded with hilarity, entertaining fight/chase sequences and a general sense of fun that makes it (nearly) impossible not to enjoy.
Tatum, in his continuing of expanding his acting resume, does a fine job of keeping things moving along, being naive/strong/smart/heroic when he needs to be, making the right moves convincingly to keep your interest and belief in him as a capable savior. Foxx, however, nearly steals the show as the peaceful-until-his-hand-is-forced President Sawyer, switching adeptly from an Obama-like sense of calm to a Spider-Man (the Tobey McGuire version) of call to duty. The duo share a great on-screen chemistry together, leaving more of the emotional heavy lifting to King who displays the most dedicated sense of seriousness of any member of the cast.
Whereas the aforementioned Olympus Has Fallen is more of the PBSdocumentary-serious of the two films, White House Down is more MTV in its approach. It's only serious when it's hand is forced, because in true Roland Emmerich fashion, things blow up, adrenaline pumps and there is enough humor to make you give into the insanity so that once you realize how zany things are, you no longer care.
And that helps make White House Down with all its flaws (heavy foreshadowing, ridiculous characters, etc.) a tasty slice of cinematic cheesecake.
PARTING SHOT: A film that forgoes subtlety, intellectualism and at times, a general sense of sanity in the name of good old fashioned fun, White House Down won't win any awards ... But it won't leave anyone who chooses to see it feeling shortchanged, either.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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