Film Review: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx in ‘White House Down’

CHICAGO – How could a movie in which the President shoots a rocket from the back of a limousine during a car chase on the White House lawn possibly be boring? Roland Emmerich somehow finds a way in the numbing “White House Down,” a movie that make absolutely no sense but fails to entertain as B-movie escapism (as his movies sometimes have in the past). I found this one just tedious, bloated, and silly. There’s such a fine line between being over-the-top enough to be entertaining and just being ridiculous. “White House Down” is ridiculous.

Rating: 1.5/5.0

The movie in which Magic Mike and Django stop World War III opens with a wannabe Secret Service Agent named Cale (Channing Tatum) taking his daughter Emily (Joey King) on a tour of the White House. The too-smart-for-her-age young woman is a huge fan of politics and adores the charismatic President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). As with most of these “Die Hard in a ____” movies, Cale picks the wrong day to bring his daughter to the place he wants to work when the most insanely unorganized and unbelievable assault on a government in world history begins.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “White House Down” in our reviews section. [16]

This is not a spoiler. It’s revealed very early. The head of President Sawyer’s Secret Service detail is about to retire. In fact, it’s his last day. And he’s going out with a coup. Agent Walker (James Woods) feels like his President and his country have betrayed him, especially after the death of his son in a covert op authorized by Sawyer. And so he unleashes the most infamous enemies of the U.S. government, including Jason Clarke & Jimmi Simpson, on the White House. In an assault that seems both simultaneously incredibly coordinated (they have heavy weapons on the roof to take down any air attack designed to stop them) and stunningly stupid (they couldn’t wait till off-hours when there might not be a tour going on?), Walker’s gang takes the White House.

As the coordinator for the Secret Service (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Speaker of the House (Richard Jenkins), and Vice President (Michael Murphy) worry about who will run the country if the President is captured, Cale goes to work. He not only has to save the daughter who was detached from the tour group just before the assault but he gets to the President’s side and becomes his only hope. Can Cale get the President to safety, go back and get his daughter, and stop World War III? Of course he can.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “White House Down” review. [16]

White House Down
Photo credit: Sony Pictures