Unthinkable

Movie of the week

While this is a movie about counter-terrorism, don’t expect to see any guns fired before the climax.

Unthinkable is the sort of movie that gets people thinking about how far would they be willing to go to save a life. The story is simple, realistic and very current. Is torturing a prisoner with total disregard for his rights acceptable when he claims to have positioned three nuclear bombs in urban areas?

The acting by both leads is superb – Samuel Jackson and Carrie-Ann Moss are at their best. However, the storyline is not politically popular: it would be a surprise if this film comes up for any awards.

Synopsis

The psychological thriller is centered around H, a black-ops interrogator, and Helen Brody, an FBI agent who presses a suspected terrorist to reveal the locations of three nuclear weapons set to detonate within the US.

As a senior interrogator, H is merciless to his prisoner. Not every one agrees that torture by any means is acceptable even when it may save thousands of lives.

Scene 1

(After a first meeting with Yusuf Younger – the suspect – Helen Brody talks with H about his crazy behavior in the interrogation room.)

Helen Brody (B): I hear you’re a specialist interrogator. Ex-army?
H: Made me the man I am today.
B: Is that how you work with colleagues? You beat them?
H: He’s a cheap (1) sadist. Younger knows all about those techniques. He was trained by the army to withstand them. That stuff’s not gonna work on him.
B: What are the chances they’ll use you after that little show?
H: You thought that was a show?
B: You wanted the other interrogators to look like the bad guys.
H: They are the bad guys. So, you talked to Younger. Learn anything else about him?
B: A little. You?
H: Oh, no, that’s his file there. This is yours. It’s classified. I see why they picked you, though. Harvard Law, graduated with honors.
B: Who gave that to you?
H: Counter-terrorism. Good choice. Let me see what else. No boyfriends. And no children. Chose a career over a family. Better watch (2) that, they gonna think you’re a lesbian.