Unthinkable 2010

 Unthinkable which was released direct to video in 2010 isn't exactly what I would call a horror movie it's more of a psychological thriller but it definitely has it's moments that are cringe inducing.  The film centers around Black Ops officer "H" (Samuel L. Jackson) who is brought in to "interrogate" a terror suspect, Yusuf (Michael Sheen) who claims to have planted three nuclear bombs in three different US cities.  H requests FBI Special Agent Helen Brody (Carrie-Ann Moss) to assist him in the interrogation.  In essence, she unwittingly plays "good cop" to H's "bad cop" during the lengthy interrogation that quickly evolves into torture.  Also starring is Brandon Routh and Gil Bellows who play FBI agents assigned to Brody's anti-terrorism team.  The screenplay was written by Oren Moverman and Peter Woodward while Gregor Jordan (Buffalo Soldiers, Ned Kelly) directed. 

Unthinkable was never released to theaters because the subject matter of a man being tortured for information was considered too realistic for distributor Sony Pictures.  They wanted to avoid controversy and decided to forgo a large scale theater release which caused the company to loose close to 10 million dollars on the film as Unthinkable only earned 5.5 million worldwide while it cost 15 million to make.  The term torture porn has been thrown around when referring to this movie but I didn't find it overly graphic or gory in fact there are several on The Countdown that have been more gory than we have here.  If I was asked, I would say it seems like it could be an accurate account of what really goes on when a terror suspect is "interrogated".  I mean I wouldn't be surprised if this type of thing happens and we just have to accept that there are some things our country does that perhaps it's better off we don't know that it does.  

It's a shame this movie isn't more well known and a run in the theaters would have helped with that but it is what it is.  All the actors do a really fine job with, Jackson, Sheen, and Moss carrying most of the workload.  This is the type of role Jackson was born to play.  Sheen is convincing as a man who has long ago sealed his fate and he is left at the mercy of his captors which happens to be exactly where he wants to be.  Moss is believable as the "good cop" but even her character has her breaking point and she plays it perfectly with loads of heart, fear, and shame.  The film has a sense of desperation that clicks down as a doomsday clock ticks away but for who and where it ticks down is up to H and Brody to figure out.  What exactly is the "Unthinkable" and is H able to actually do it?  I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would as torture isn't my thing but a Samuel L. Jackson film where he is allowed to be, well, Samuel L. Jackson is perfect.  I give Unthinkable 3 and a half Pounds of Plutonium out of 5 and after a long inner debate The Horror Honey agrees.  She was leaning towards a 4 out of 5 but didn't want people to think she was weird.  I told her it was too late to worry about that now!