SALON

Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:00 AM UTC

“White House Down”: Destroying America in order to save it

Channing Tatum saves Jamie Foxx's peacemaking black president from a right-wing coup in "White House Down"

By

Topics: Movies, Action movies, Summer movies, White House Down, Roland Emmerich, Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Barack Obama, U.S. Politics, Politics, Editor's Picks, ,

As gristly, undigested globs of American fear, American hope and semi-justified American paranoia go, “White House Down” is both highly entertaining and perfectly timed (in a way that can only be accidental). This ripping and ridiculous yarn from disaster-movie king Roland Emmerich (he of “Independence Day,” “2012,” etc.) is about a right-wing coup d’état staged against an African-American president who has vowed to take down the “military-industrial complex.” No, seriously! And he kind of says it like it’s a new idea! All in all, the movie is something like an MSNBC remake of “Die Hard” mixed with “Les Misérables” (minus the singing) mixed with a wishful-thinking version of Barack Obama in which he personally takes out Serbians and white supremacists with an RPG. Oh, and just a little bit of “Home Alone in the White House.”

Of course, as played by Jamie Foxx, President James Sawyer isn’t exactly Obama, despite the intellectual demeanor, the sticks of Nicorette and the elegant fashion-plate first lady (Garcelle Beauvais, who should’ve been given more to do). Sawyer is more like a black president who’s actually from Chicago, instead of being a prep-school kid from Honolulu. He’s a bit more White House down. (I am so sorry. I couldn’t stop myself!)

Anyway, not only has Sawyer announced a plan to sign a peace agreement with Iran and remove all United States troops from the entire Middle East, he also intends to expose all the American arms manufacturers who’ve been double-dealing with repressive regimes all over the world. Jesus H. Christ! First of all, no president could or would really do those things – by the time you get elected, you already understand there are some places you just don’t go. But yeah, that probably would provoke exactly the kind of right-wing screaming meltdowns and creepazoid paramilitary counterattack we see in the movie.

There’s not a whole lot of realism to James Vanderbilt’s screenplay for “White House Down,” amid the ludicrously inept security around the president, the motor vehicle chases across the White House lawn, the flag-waving little girl who saves America and an ingenious constitutional crisis that no one’s ever thought of before, involving multiple overlapping and theoretically legitimate presidents. But the essential climate of the movie – the climate of hysteria, dysfunction and mendacity, backed up by an enduring, essentially optimistic and arguably idiotic culture of popular patriotism – that feels strikingly authentic to our historical moment.

Just as Sawyer is on the phone with House Speaker Raphelson (Richard Jenkins), who lacks the nucular-orange glow of that office’s current occupant, a bomb in a maintenance cart takes out the upper two-thirds of the Capitol dome. Emmerich is known for destroying the landmarks of human civilization in his movies – I guess he just couldn’t resist including a gag about “Independence Day” in the White House tour seen here – and let’s say this: He’s gotten really good at it. The mixture of digital and optical effects in “White House Down” is largely seamless, and it’s nearly impossible to tell when he’s using real Washington locations, when we’re on set at look-alike buildings in Montreal and when the whole thing is zeroes and ones. But the Capitol bombing is really just a diversion, since an entire tactical squad of scary paramilitary dudes has been smuggled into the White House, disguised as technicians refurbishing the private movie theater. (Yeah, there is an explanation about how these guys and all their gear get into one of the most secure buildings on earth, though I wouldn’t call it convincing or adequate.)

Fortunately for the free world, there’s a buff but likable screw-up on hand, along with his attitude-laden preteen daughter! Since this is an American action movie, that’s obviously more than enough to take on a team of heavily armed Special Forces renegades (led by Jason Clarke, the torture expert from “Zero Dark Thirty”) who have executed the president’s entire Secret Service detail, slaughtered Marine guards and Capitol police officers by the carload, and are loading Javelin surface-to-air missiles onto the roof. Actually, it is enough, in the sense that Channing Tatum is so cozy and comfortable as John Cale, an off-duty Capitol police officer whose hardass one-time high-school classmate (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has just rejected him for a Secret Service job, that he gives this outrageous fantasy a human center.

Cale is strictly an archetype from the action-cinema playbook – did Vanderbilt knowingly name him after the avant-garde musician and former Velvet Underground member? – but Tatum inhabits the role with his low-key charm and physical presence in a way that feels convincing while being almost entirely devoid of specific content. I guess that’s the definition of a movie star: Tatum’s Cale is appealing and accessible mostly because we can project whatever we want onto him. Cale will be damned if he’ll allow a bunch of guys with nasty tattoos and “Deliverance” haircuts to seize or kill the president, and anyway his plucky 11-year-old (Joey King) is somewhere in the corridors of the White House, uploading cellphone video of the terrorists to YouTube.

Emmerich’s movies have long capitalized on the conflicted or confused desires of moviegoers: On one hand, we’re delighted to see the Capitol blown up and the White House destroyed; on the other, we yearn for heroism, a happy ending and an American renewal. There’s a lot of that double-edged quality in “White House Down,” including the fact that the team seizing the White House includes a former NSA techno-wizard (Jimmi Simpson) who even looks a little like Edward Snowden. Both the vice president (Michael Murphy) and Jenkins’ House speaker (constitutionally third in line) seem suspiciously eager to get their hands on the reins of power and undo Sawyer’s peace deals; in their command bunker at the Pentagon, Gyllenhaal’s Secret Service head and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs (Lance Reddick) squabble like schoolgirls.

Vanderbilt and Emmerich can’t come up with some surprising reason why a bunch of wackos would want to seize the White House – what you’re guessing, right now, is probably correct – but the journey, plot-wise, is reasonably diverting and it’s a relief to see a movie that delivers action scenes where objects and human bodies appear to possess weight and you can follow what’s happening. (“Man of Steel” was a particularly egregious offender on those counts.) This piece of midsummer madness is undeniably silly and delusional, a dire political fable told as tongue-in-cheek pastiche. But it delivers a lot of contradictory things we want: We want to see America destroyed and we want to see it saved. We want to see priceless White House antiques get smashed and also get a little weepy about American history. Oh, and we want to make fun of the media, which unanimously describes the White House seizure as an al-Qaida attack. That’s a lot of good things, wrapped up in a delicious package of stupid.

Andrew O

More Andrew O'Hehir.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

Loading Comments...

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
3281 points3282 points | 4074 comments
vote
Before Edward Snowden: “Sexual deviates” and the NSA - When the last major defection hit the NSA, the government smeared the leakers as gay. New documents show they lied
2680 points2681 points | 187 comments
vote
This man is still lying to America: A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not coming clean to us -- again
771 points772 points | 43 comments
vote
We must hate our children. We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
115 points116 points | 17 comments
vote
James Clapper is still lying to America
86 points87 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows