Movie Review: "White House Down"

Writing about White House Down is a surprisingly difficult task. Not because the film presents anything intellectually challenging. In fact, it's the opposite: there is virtually nothing to write about. But I'm going to try anyway.

For two and a half hours, White House Down left me mildly entertained and constantly aware that I was watching a very stupid movie. If anything can be said about Roland Emmerich's directorial abilities as made evident in this film, it is that he manages to instill just the right amount of stupidity into the action scenes. The film is never smart, but it never really reaches a point where I rolled my eyes and yell "Come on!" With a title like White House Down and Emmerich's habit of blowing up the White House in his movies, I expect the film to be a fairly over the top exercise in mindless action.  In that respect, it didn't disappoint. White House Down is filled with action from beginning to end, and it is just as mindless as I imagined. While the plot is about as far from realism as you can get, it never becomes any less believable than, say, Air Force One, True Lies or Taken. Where it runs into problems, however, is that Emmerich only occasionally takes the time to poke fun at the story.

Between stripping down to a tank top and being only a few letters away from being called John McClane, I think it's pretty clear that White House Down is trying to evoke Die Hard. But there is a crucial difference between that classic film and this one: nobody in Die Hard took itself too seriously. But while Tatum and company certainly fit a few jokes in, White House Down has long stretches where Emmerich tries to get the audience to feel the weight of this ridiculous situation and it just doesn't work. Between an overly complicated story and a father/daughter dynamic that feels forced down our throats, White House Down would have benefited considerably if its plot was simpler and had Tatum and Foxx trade wittier, more self aware banter. I mean, this is a film where Jamie Foxx plays the Leader of the Free World and still manages to drop an F bomb and fire a rocket launcher. Yet, he's still asked to give inspirational speeches and tries to be a serious hero. That's just not a good mix.

Even more annoying is that the action is (oddly enough) not the least believable thing in the movie. Instead, I found myself rolling my eyes at writer James Vanderbilt's numerous story devices, which almost entirely come off as unbelievable or ridiculous. There are clichés aplenty, plot holes galore, and a deus ex machina that comes in the form of secrets tunnels allegedly used by JFK to help Mariyln Monroe sneak into the White House. Right. The fact that I had less trouble believing that the President can fire a rocket launcher at terrorists than I do some of the developments in the story is never a good sign.

But to be honest, there really isn't much worth analyzing when it comes to this film. For all it's plot holes and story problems, the film is clearly trying to be nothing more than a good time at the movies. And I suppose it's moderately successful at that. While the aforementioned serious tone certainly dampens the mood, there is enough action to keep audiences excited. Some moments certainly work better than others, and none of them reach the level of films like Man of Steel or Iron Man 3 but it's still fun. The trailer also does its best to not spoil any of the best scenes, instead only hinting at what's to come. And, as someone who's typically found Emmerich's methods of filmmaking distracting and irritating, this film certainly felt like his most exciting to date.

Much of the film also lies on the shoulders of Channing Tatum who, despite this film's middling box office receipts, has found himself at the center of a handful of big hits. When Tatum first came on the scene I found him unbearable- his wooden delivery and complete lack of screen presence made me pray he'd disappear. Fastforward a few years and C-Tates has completely won me over. Maybe he was just working with bad material (Step Up was never going to win any Oscars) or maybe he's improved exponentially as an actor, but there is a certain quality to Tatum's performances that feel natural. Despite his chiseled abs and movie-star good looks, Tatum always comes off as realistic. While he's never given any great dramatic scenes like those in Magic Mike and he isn't as funny as he was in 21 Jump Street, his performance in White House Down is still quite strong. He makes John Cale a relatable hero and, despite this film's status as a box office flop, I don't think Tatum's career is going to slow down in the slightest.

The rest of the cast, however, fails to stand out. Jamie Foxx is completely wasted thanks mostly to the material. His character isn't very convincing during the dramatic moments, and Foxx's comedic scenes come off as unnatural. Meanwhile great actors like James Woods, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Richard Jenkins phone their work in- we've seen them all give performances just like this. One standout, however, is 14 year old Joey King, who stars as Tatum's spunky daughter who (no surprise) finds herself at the center of the action. While King's character is no different than any other kidnapped kid from an action movie, she manages to make her character slightly more interesting and pulls off both her comedic and dramatic scenes. Having already appeared in films like The Dark Knight Rises and Oz the Great and Powerful, I don't think its an exaggeration to say that this little girl is going places.

As I mentioned before, White House Down is almost impossible to write about. While you can rip apart the film for it's crappy script and unrealistic story, I never once believed that anyone involved in film had strived to be more than just an action movie. And, while it's not the most entertaining film you'll see this summer and I don't think you'll miss much if you choose to sit this one out, it does (mostly) succeed as an action movie. I was entertained by the film, and I forgot about it after a few minutes and moved on with my life. Anybody toting the film as something more than a decent is being hyperbolic. Anybody ripping the film apart and calling it terrible is being overdramatic. It's as simple as that.

OVERALL GRADE: C