Unthinkable - Not Thought Through  
| Unthinkable is almost a remarkable movie. It wrestles with the issue of torture and scratches the surface of some interesting questions. But it fails to ever feel real. Its characters are shallow archetypes, its situations are convenient constructs, its dialogue is a series of positional diatribes. Unthinkable feels like its trying to teach us a lesson and therefore fails to do so.
Instead of telling an interesting story that may highlight the perplexities of an issue, Unthinkable simply throws a bunch of arguments at us, juxtaposing shocking images, hoping we won't notice the emperor wears no clothes. It all feels false. A film this high concept needs to create a sense of reality for it to fly and I didn't feel Unthinkable got there.
You couldn't pick a better cast for this film. Sheen, Moss and especially Jackson really could have sold something like this. This is the kind of film Jackson is made for. But none of them overcome the limits of the script, a script that feels like its trying too hard.
It's too bad Unthinkable didn't manage to find a way to explore these themes more effectively. The questions it flirts with are fascinating ones, questions without easy answers. Unthinkable isn't the film to deal with this.
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