Entertainment
At The Movies
Turning
*The Tables
Meet debut filmmaker
Rod Lurie, previously
known as the meanest
film critic in L.A.
NACMI PFEFFERMAN
Special to the Jewish News
od Lurie, a former movie
Mireviewer for Los Angeles mag-
azine, once called Danny DeVito
a testicle with legs. He dubbed
Whoopi Goldberg a traitor to her
race for playing too many domestics,
and his review of The Fisher I6ng
was only one word long: 'Huh?"
So the reviled journalist wasn't
surprised when he got the cold
shoulder while attempting to put
together his own film deal several
years ago. "I wasn't welcome any-
where, basically," Lurie, 37,
recalled in a telephone interview
from his Pasadena, Calif, home.
When people did read his
scripts, he suspects, they were
hoping to have a good laugh at his
expense. The Israeli-born writer-
director, however, apparently has
thelast laugh now that his first
feature film, Deterrence, is being
released nationwide.
The movie is a political thriller
about a Jewish president of the
United States (Kevin Pollak) who
must decide whether to drop the A-
bomb on Iraq. Lurie, whose first two
projects fell apart due to bonding
and insurance problems, described
how he came up with the "inde-
structible" script that no one could
prevent from reaching the big screen.
First, he obtained a promise of
funding from a French company,
on the condition that he could
convince actor Kevin Pollak to
star. Pollak, who at the time was
popular in Europe after appearing
in Casino and 'The Usual Suspects,
played poker with Lurie on
Sunday nights in an industry
game. The problem was the actor
and the writer had had a falling
out after Lurie's I,os Angeles maga -
. ne
zi expose of Tom Cruise,
Pollak's friend and co-star in A
Few Good Men.
TURNING TIM TABLES on page 106
4/28
2000
104
ALAN ABRAMS
Special to the Jewish News
I
t isn't often a Hollywood film can
impact upon reality, but first-time
director Rod Lurie's Deterrence
has the potential to spill over
from multiplexes to determining Al
Gore's running mate.
This saga of the reel-life first Jewish
president of the United States (Kevin
Pollak) and the course he pursues in a
Middle Eastern conflict could impact
the chances of two Jewish U.S. sena-
tors, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
and Dianne Feinstein of California,
for the vice presidential spot on the
Democratic ticket.
Why? Because Deterrence raises
questions about the true motives of a
Jewish president when dealing with
Arab enemies of the United States,
and of Israel..
Lurie states he created Pollak's char-
acter, President Walter Emerson, as a
villain, a hypocrite and a racist. But
this president won't be perceived that
way by all audiences. Liberals may con-
demn him, but to conservatives, Walter
Emerson will play as an American
hero.
It is difficult to talk about what's
right (in the nonpolitical sense) with
Deterrence without revealing the
movie's spectacular ending. It is 2008,
and presidential primary time.
Candidate Emerson (an appointed
and successor president like Gerald R.
Ford) has just beaten back a challenge
in the Colorado primary from a can-
didate named Trump.
Emerson and two aides — his chief
of staff (Timothy Hutton) and
national security adviser (Sheryl Lee
Ralph) — are trapped in a freak
Colorado snowstorm and take refuge
in a diner, along with some of the
presidential entourage.
Already inside the diner are enough
characters to surpass all the politically
correct minimum daily requirements:
a bigoted redneck, an African-
American — they're all here.
The presidential party has only
four phones, but fortunately, the diner
has cable television. While watching
the Colorado election returns on a
CNN-like network (political junkies
will delight in knowing Ray Romer
will again be Colorado's governor in
2008), some breaking news develops.
Uday Hussein, the real-life son of
Saddam Hussein, has again led Iraqi
troops into Kuwait. This time, the Iraqi
Alan Abrams is a freelance journalist
based in Bowling Green, Ohio.
forces have massacred a large number of
Americans guarding the border —
including women — and the troops are
moving toward Saudi Arabia.
Emerson is morally outraged.
Ground retaliation is not an
option. Most of America's
military might is tied up in
Asia, protecting Korea and Japan
against a possible invasion by China.
Showing statesmanlike mettle,
Emerson issues an ultimatum. If
Hussein doesn't withdraw from
Kuwait and remove missiles directed
the election, oozes reptilian sleaze as
he attempts to convince Emerson not
to care if Israel, Greece and Turkey are
attacked by chemical warfare-laden
Iraqi missiles — as long as no
American lives are lost.
But the stakes are raised when
the Iraqis give notice that 23
missiles will be launched against the
West — including NORAD headquar-
ters in Colorado — if Emerson doesn't
back off his nuclear threat. For the
Iraqis, it is now also a jihad, a holy war,
against a Jew.
Presidential Politics
Filmmaker Rod Lurie's "Deterrence"
features a Jewish chief executive.
Or
.
There is a danger here far beyond
against Tel Aviv:Greece and Turkey,
what
we are watching unfold. Will
he will nuke Baghdad.
audiences and presidential ticket-mak-
This does not please the Iraqi
ambassador to the United Nations, who ers believe that Emerson's further
actions are motivated in part
calls Emerson "a puppet of
Timothy
Hutton,
because he is a Jew?
Zion," and says, "I will not
Ryan
Cutrona,
Certainly Emerson isn't
negotiate with a Jew." (This
Kevin Pollak, Joe stereotypical, but much is
is the first time the audience McCracken and
made of his lack of what is
learns Emerson is Jewish.)
Sheryl Lee star in considered "presidential
-
However, Emerson is con
Deterrence.
stature". And we're not talk-
vinced he is one Jew with
ing height.
whom the Iraqis will bargain.
How
convincing
is Pollak as
What Emerson does next gives this
Emerson?
Pollak
is
so
good, he even
movie its tense, gritty feel.
outshines
his
watershed
performance
Emerson's Jewishness becomes
The
Usual
Suspects.
in
more and more of a key issue in sec-
Deterrence is a taut thriller well
ond-guessing his actions. He explains
worth
seeing.
that as president, he must be an athe-
* * * * out of four stars.
ist. This comes after the diner's
French - Canadian waitress questions
his ability to lead the world through
Deterrence, rated R, opens today in
the crisis because "you guys don't
area theaters.
believe in Jesus."
Spin doctor Hutton, worried about