‘The Brink of War’ Review: Jeff Daniels Plays Ronald Reagan

You have to acknowledge the good intentions behind Michael Russell Gunn’s feature directorial debut depicting the 1986 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik that helped advance the cause of a nuclear reduction treaty. In the film’s press notes, the writer-director emphasizes that his intention was not to make his movie overly political, but rather to illustrate the vital importance of people with different ideologies simply talking with each other in order to bridge divides. To that end, The Brink of War features lots and lots of…talk.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, even though the nearly one-location setting, with lengthy scenes in which the two figures engage in vigorous debate, indicates that the material might have been better served as a play. But then you wouldn’t have had the endless shots of the stunningly beautiful Icelandic landscape that provide visual palette cleansers between the claustrophobic sequences.

The film concerns an important historical event, in which the world leaders met at a small, rustic and supposedly haunted house at the edge of the sea to discuss their mutual interest in not blowing up the world. The production achieved a coup by filming at the actual location, with the scenes of Reagan (Jeff Daniels) and Gorbachev (Jared Harris) shot in the room where the meetings took place.

The problem is that the filmmaker, who served as a story editor for Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series The Newsroom, is, like his mentor, often too concerned with telling us exactly how to think. Time and time again throughout The Brink of War, the characters expound on the vital importance of their mission and the world-changing stakes involved. The dialogue feels more like speechifying, with such familiar phrases as “Trust but verify” and “Peace through strength” invoked like a band performing its greatest hits in concert. When a frustrated Reagan finally bellows, “Tear down this wall between us, Mr. Gorbachev!” you have to resist the urge to shine your cell phone flashlight.

Being superficially familiar with the events in question but not enough of an expert, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the film’s depiction. Obvious liberties are taken for the sake of cinematic convenience, such as Reagan and Gorbachev talking to each other in English even though they actually spoke via translators. That’s not a problem, although you’d think that in the scenes featuring just Gorbachev and his wily wife Raisa (a scene-stealing Branka Katic) that they would speak in Russian.

The lengthy dialogue exchanges between the two main characters are reasonably compelling, even if the slowly-paced film feels longer than its two hours. Much of the credit goes to Harris, who delivers a superb performance as the Soviet leader who desperately wants to achieve an historic agreement but is unwilling to sacrifice his country’s security by allowing Reagan to fulfill his quixotic goal of creating a missile defense shield. When Gorbachev rebukes Reagan about the U.S. not sharing the technology for cow milking machines that would help feed his people, Harris makes the leader’s anger feel fully real.

Daniels has a more difficult task, since we’re so much more familiar with Reagan’s looks and voice. Though he’s boasting a mild hair-and-make-up job and the occasional verbal tic of starting a sentence with “Well…” the actor doesn’t deliver a true impression as much as he strives to convey Reagan’s essence. He does a creditable job, but sorry, he looks and sounds so much like Jeff Daniels that it’s hard to buy into the illusion.

It’s also hard to be convinced by the film’s depiction of Reagan — whose mental decline may well have begun by that time — as playing sophisticated 4D chess in his negotiations stressing human rights. According to the film, the success of the summit would be determined by Gorbachev’s decision whether or not to let the sister of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich leave Russia to visit him for his birthday.   

Hope Davis shows up briefly as Nancy Reagan, chafing at being left home in Washington while Raisa Gorbachev flaunts her presence in Iceland to the press, and a not very interesting subplot revolves around two reporters (Aya Cash, Guy Burnet) covering Raisa throughout the weekend. The ever-reliable J.K. Simmons makes a strong impression as Secretary of State George Shultz, depicted as a voice of reason and to whom the film is dedicated.

The film employs a few stylistic devices to alleviate the visual monotony, such as occasional split screens enclosing the two central figures and, in a more heavy-handed example, making the table between them smaller and smaller in different shots to emphasize their diplomatic progress. But the visual touches aren’t enough to prevent The Brink of War from feeling like an academic history lesson rather than living, breathing drama.