This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Windy President Gone With a Plea
Plot Overview
The third
term U.S. President (Nick
Offerman) has disbanded the FBI and hopes soon to militarily defeat the
Western Forces (WF) of California & Texas. Joining them in their
secession are Oregon & Florida, possibly soon to include the
Carolinas. The vast swath of interior states, however, are neutral,
the conflict not concerning them. Friendly to the U.S. are the North Pole, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
Unfriendlies are Latin America, Central America, South America, and
especially China. And if you reside in the U.S., you better speak the King's English.
Motoring together from NYC
to DC are has-been
journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson,) hardened
photojournalista Lee (Kirsten Dunst,) her horny cohort Joel
(Wagner Moura,) and hopeful war photographer 23-year-old Jessie
Collins (Cailie Spaeny.) They want to capture the president's last
words before the WF arrive
to “take care of him.” Jessie also requires some looking
after by Lee if she is to survive.
Ideology
The military action lends itself to comparison with one of
Kenny Rogers's songs concerning a chance encounter with “The
Gambler” on a train bound for nowhere. He offered his fellow
passenger the advice that “the secret to surviving is knowing what to
throw away and knowing what to keep.” The refrain of the song goes:
You've got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
This wisdom of the gambling man's repartee is old as the hills and was passed on by a raconteur, Agur in Proverbs 30:1, whose four metaphors offered the same life advice as did Rogers's Gambler. That we find in, (Prov. 30:29-31) “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.”
We have Agur's “lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,” and we have Rogers's “know[ing] when to hold 'em.” A crippled journalist knows when it's time to confront the bad guys head on, and he does.
We have Agur's “king, against whom there is no rising up,” and we have Rogers's “Know[ing] when to fold 'em.” A king who knows when to give in to his subjects doesn't experience any uprising. Wise discretion leads the vast number of states (“to stay out of it. With everything that's been going on, it seems like it's for the best.”) Notwithstanding their neutrality, the results are likely to fundamentally affect them, as was expressed by a banker in a Bonner book:
I am a Swiss who wishes the Confederation to remain as it is. If Hitler conquers England, then all of Europe will be his sovereign territory. Switzerland will be swallowed up, as it was swallowed up by Napoleon. We would be the last to fall, but when we did, we would disappear as a nation. (65)
We have Agur's “he goat also” and we have
Rogers's “Know[ing] when to walk away.” Instead of driving
directly from New York to the Capitol, the journalists take a circuitous
route through Pittsburgh and West Virginia to skirt the hostilities
and traffic jams.
We have Agur's “greyhound” and Rogers's “Know[ing] when to run.” In our movie it doesn't do the adventurers any good to “drive like a maniac” unless they have to escape a hot zone, and then they better.
The gambler gave the advice:
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
The war photos include battle souvenirs as well as atrocities. Hard to tell how the public will receive them, which is not shown.
Production Values
“” (2024) was written and directed by Alex Garland. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Cailee Spaeny. Also featured are Sonoya Mizuno as British reporter Anya, and Jefferson White as cameraman Dave. Kirsten Dunst gave an impressive performance, as did the whole cast. Kirsten's husband Jesse Plemons was hands-down the scariest movie villain I've seen in a long time.
MPA rated it R
for strong violent content, bloody/disturbing images, and language
throughout. The production used full blanks for the gunfire, not the
usual half or quarter blanks, to produce a discharge loud as real
gunfire. It was bone-rattling in the theater. We also had peaceful
bucolic scenes and some clothes shopping by the women.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
Near the end a negress sergeant negotiates with a negress advocate over the President's fate, whether he lives or dies. This seems to turn the original American Civil War on its head. There negro slaves were caught up in the middle of a conflict between (mostly) White sides. Here two blacks argue over the fate of the Great White Chief. Go figure.
The issues being fought over are obscure and even the combatants, some of them, seem uncertain. Perhaps it's just an illustration of the end game of wholesale disunity. That being the case, the movie can be taken in by mixed groups with their own opinions. The action is first rate and the drama not half bad.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Many suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Bonner, Paul Hyde. Excelsior!. Copyright, 1955, by Lilly M. Bonner. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1955. Print.
Rogers, Kenny. Songwriter Don Schlitz. “The Gambler.” Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Pub. LLC. Web.
bibles.n7nz.org