The Peacemaker

When an explosive train-collision in deepest Russia results in radioactive fallout, spunky boffin Kidman and shit kickin' Colonel Clooney (briefly at odds) are despatched East to trace terrorists suspected of smuggling Soviet nuclear weapons into countries less stable, safe and, dammit, less civilised and cherishable than the USA. The ultimate horror arises when the man behind it all (Iures), seemingly a meek Bosnian music professor, arrives armed and dangerous in NY. If this sounds cynical, maybe that's unfair on the action sequences, mostly well directed (albeit often at excessive length) by Mimi Leder, an ER veteran whose first feature this is. It's also a little harsh on the efficient, attractive Kidman and Clooney; on Iures, who lends the prof a modicum of dignity (though his principles are explained only in terms of vengeful grief); and on Mueller-Stahl, whose good Russian - the movie's best performance - disappears all too soon. But Michael Schiffer's half-hearted liberal script remains riddled with the xenophobic stereotyping mistaken by Hollywood fat cats for an accurate depiction of the world. That said, fair fireballs.