This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This is a movie that takes nuclear brinkmanship and adds a few twists. I'm not a low budget film fan at all, but this movie is one of those that will make you forget about the budget & will have you so immersed that it will just leave you mouthing the "WOW" (or some variation of that) at the end of the film. Although the movie is a bit dated now, it still ranks as one of the best examples of what it really takes to make a great movie... simply great acting & directing. Very few movies make my best movie list, Kevin Pollack has 2 movies on that list (the other being "The Usual Suspects")which is a feat in & of itself.

The idea for Rod Lurie's first feature film is a good one - the President is trapped in the boonies and must deal with a nuclear crisis. And, DETERRENCE certainly has some very play-like charming elements - small setting, clash of characters, localized tension, etc - that make it a passable watch. Not to mention, it does a wonderful job of portraying news/mass media as the film's crisis unfolds.Unfortunately, although the writing is informed, tip-top, and clever, I think the casting falls short.Let's start with the President played by Kevin Pollak. I felt this was a bad casting choice by Lurie. In addition to his noticeably short height and Napoleonic demeanor, Pollak lacks the presidential aura of either a Martin Sheen or Michael Douglas. Therefore, no matter what interesting dramatic conflicts arise for President Emerson during the story, I can't help but wish someone was playing him.Also, there's a few patrons/employees of the diner that are very one note - you'll notice this was you watch.Ted's Grade: C+/B-

A very strange, ill-directed mess. Starts in black and white, for no evident reason. It includes a waitress character who's supposedly French-Canadian but sounds more like a, oh, Romanian or something. The basic plot -- a presidential candidate marooned in a diner during a Colorado snow storm, finding himself the unexpected commander in chief dealing with a sudden war in Iraq -- is nonsensical and absurd.The acting is appalling throughout -- actors doing the job for the paycheque, under the direction of a hack.This would have been a bad made-for-TV movie.It's an utterly terrible attempt at satire, which turns out a foolish mess.Avoid this crap if you can.

I enjoyed the drama much more than the pedantry. It can be argued that only the certifiable would favor starting a nuclear war. Stanley Kubrick made that clear in STRANGELOVE. At the end, Pollock finally lit his soggy cigar: Is this a veiled reference to Curtis LeMay, another short, cigarred warrior, considered psychotic by many? I must comment on Lurie's statement in the Director's Commentary that nuking Japan, according to historians, was unnecessary, and that the casualty projection (@ one million) rate in an invasion was a cynical overstatement. That may be politically correct and VERY Hollywood, but it fails to consider the condition of our own armed forces and the nation. We, too, were exhausted. It has been said that Admiral Halsey, following the Okinawa invasion, did not think that he could fight any longer and wanted to resign. And he was a pretty tough cookie. I suggest the Mr. Lurie might have been less white whine and brie preachy.