UNTHINKABLE is a pretty interesting single location thriller about the efforts of a crack government team to get a terrorist to reveal the location of not one, not two, but three nuclear bombs which he has hidden in the USA. It's quite a gruelling viewing experience but one which works thanks to the high levels of suspense and a genuinely unforeseeable outcome.

I tend to avoid films like this one as they're often self-consciously preachy in their attempts to tell a message. UNTHINKABLE does have something of an anti-American vibe going on, but it doesn't really affect the outcome of what is an efficient thriller. The person holding the film together is Samuel L. Jackson, who quite wonderfully gives one of those barnstorming, larger-than-life performances that we used to see back in the 1990s. Jackson reminds me of Gary Oldman a little: both are actors who came to fame with their angry performances, but who Hollywood have subdued in the last fifteen years or so. It's great to see the old fire back.

The rest of the cast are all right, although not on Jackson's level. I don't like Michael Sheen very much and find him an odd choice to play the terrorist; I guess casting a genuine Arab actor in the role would have been too controversial. Carrie-Anne Moss does quite well as the protagonist although the straight role she plays is quite a boring one. Two character actors, Gil Bellows and Stephen Root, are both very good in smaller roles. There are some hard-hitting torture sequences in this film which I didn't see coming, and an against-the-clock climax which ratchets up the tension no end.

If you want 90 minutes of torture porn then this film is it served with a rather starry cast and a cherry pie.

Samuel L Jackson is the torturer in chief and Michael Sheen is a Jihadist bomber being the interrogation victim.

Of course the film is a morality tale and could equally work as a stage show. Stripped away from its film setting it is essentially a three hander of Sheen, Jackson and Carrie Ann Moss.

The film asks the question of how far will you go in order to possibly save lives.?

Would you break the constitution, rules of natural justice, human rights laws in order to gain the necessary information that will find bombs primed to go off and destroy thousands of lives?

Will you torture and kill the suspect's friends and family who are innocent in order to get the information you require?

The film is certainly provocative, it makes you ask questions and is uncomfortable viewing.

Is it really entertainment that I enjoyed? The answer is no.

The film just about stays on the right side of silliness although Jackson's kick ass special interrogator does not help and the filmmakers should had considered the roles between Jackson and Sheen being reversed.

Steven Arthur Younger (Michael Sheen) is a Muslim convert who is threatening to blow up 3 nuclear devices. He is captured on American soil, but military intelligence has failed to make progress on the interrogation. FBI Agent Helen Brody (Carrie-Anne Moss) has been brought in to investigate along with a mysterious consulting interrogator H (Samuel L. Jackson).

This movie is asking the unthinkable question which seems to be asked by everybody in the real world. What if there is a ticking bomb? H tortures Younger to get him to give up the bombs' locations. Brody is struggling to stop the torture.

Is there value in asking the question? Yes. But that's all there is in this movie. The style is sparse. The tension is limited. Production value is non-existent. The dialog and the writing is nothing special. There are a lot of great actors here. None of them can elevate the movie beyond an academic discussion. In the end, the movie is too contrived.