White House Down

FLIX!

A crazed Secret Service Chief of Presidential Security assembles a cast of lunatics a devises a plot that is two-fold. One part is about getting money, a lot of it. The kind of money that the Federal Reserve keeps on hand in cash - 400 million dollars. The other part is about launching a massive nuclear strike all over the middle east. The crazy Secret Service guy (James Wood) needs to keep the President alive in order to activate the "football", the portable device that allows the President (Jamie Foxx) to order a nuclear strike from anywhere. I could say more about the plot line but you've seen it before. In a movie called "Die Hard."

In this remake of Die Hard, this time starring Channing Tatum as the hero, or antihero it might be said, we once again go meandering through a complicated building (The White House), and the place is crawling with bad guys. And once again our hero is on his own to save the day.

Here, the President, played by Jamie Foxx (superb as always), is the guy our boy John Cale is out to save. As in Die Hard, when the bad guys discover they John McCain's wife in their grasp, here the bad guys come to realize they have John Cale's daughter in their grasp. I mean the only thing different about this movie is that the hero never uttered the phrase "Yippee Yi Ki Yay, Mr. President."

But here's the thing. Remaking Die Hard isn't necessarily a bad thing. I guess the bad thing is the guys actually trying to keep the Die Hard franchise alive aren't doing such a great job, but this version was really done well. Fresh blood in the roles doesn't hurt a thing. Die Hard was a great flick and so was this. The first time I saw Die Hard I was in a mood for total distraction. I wanted stuff to blow up, lots of action, and lots of bullets flying. And Die Hard was perfect. That's why I appreciate White House Down. Somewhere out there is a guy who's going through a divorce and needs a distraction. Go see White House Down.