A tidy little small-scale low-budget thriller on an apocalyptic theme (same as Fail-Safe, same as Crimson Tide), a bout of nuclear brinkmanship -- or "Showdown in the Desert," as the cable news channel instantaneously christens it -- between the new leader of Iraq (Saddam's son) and the first Jewish U.S. president (Kevin Pollak, very human but very self-certain), albeit an unelected president, inheriting the post through Order of Succession, and currently pounding the campaign trail in Colorado. The winter snowstorm that confines the action to a B-rated diner (telephone, television, and personal computer provide global uplink), and the cultural cross-section of its patrons and employees (Canadian-born waitress: "Is it okay to say 'Jews' or do I have to say 'Jewish-Americans'?"), are without doubt contrived, but cleverly and pragmatically contrived. Suspense, despite some outsized disturbances from the civilians in the diner, is well sustained to the end, and is given a nice lift quite near the end via the fine speech of the president's chief advisor (Timothy Hutton, playing a character puzzlingly named after the B-movie leading man, Marshall Thompson): "You will be wiping out a civilization where civilization began." And when the suspense is over, it will be replaced by Something To Think About. The first-time writer and director, Rod Lurie, is a former film critic -- and he demonstrates at the very least that some critics know something about moviemaking. (2000) — Duncan Shepherd
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