White House Down: Movie Moments

Yep! Another movie!

And yep…another…well, it’s “okay.”

Let me start by saying my “new adult” was offended that I didn’t love this movie.  And, I had to agree that Channing Tatum with barely a shirt on was a delight.

Also, I don’t remember seeing anything with Jamie Foxx before and I thought he did a good job. His performance was solid as the President. His lines were good, he was believable and likable.

The problem came with the movie as a whole.

Things I liked:

*Action.

*Not tons of language, even the one use of the “F” word made me laugh.

*Decent effects (loved the Blackhawks coming in LOW over DC).

*One of the best lines I’ve ever heard—a bad guy is eating cake shortly after they take over the White House. He offers some cake to another terrorist who glares at the first guy and says something like, “I don’t want cake! I’m diabetic!”  I burst out laughing on that. A funny little detail, that appealed to this diabetic.

*The young daughter (Joey King) who was good at crying.

Things I didn’t:

*Channing Tatum isn’t a good enough actor to play a single dad—the emotional stuff was disappointingly flat.

*The young daughter acted more like 15 than 11.

*Obvious plot points that should have been twists…the one example I’ll give…the dad missed the daughter’s talent show. She’s mad. Her talent? Flag-twirling. How could flag-twirling become important in an action thriller about the White House? Well, I don’t want to spoil it for those who are planning to see it.

There are at least three of these obvious breadcrumbs which weakened the plot for me.

*Overused types of lines, like the President saying, “Get off my lawn!” (Sort of like the President in Air Force One—“Get off my plane.”

*The egotistical, psycho computer geek played by Jimmi Simpson was too typical.

*The ex-wife showing up at the White House…was far too matter of fact. It was too easy for her just to show up. There should have been chaos in DC and she just appeared without a problem.

So, this film has the right pieces: big name actors (Jamie Foxx, Channing Tatum, James Woods, Maggie Gyllenhaal), a good setting, good effects but the dorky script and some overacting like with Jimmi Simpson shackled it to mediocrity.