The Brink of War

by Mike McGranaghan

For all the awesomeness that was going on technologically and pop culture-wise during the 1980s, it was a scary time politically. Movies like The Day After stoked already strong fears about the possibility of nuclear war. Russia was the “evil empire” who might bomb us into oblivion at any moment. That worry hung over everything. It was therefore a rare moment of hope when President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavík, Iceland, hoping to find a means of achieving peace between the nations. This tense 30-hour session is detailed in the mostly compelling drama The Brink of War.

Reagan (Jeff Daniels) arrives in Iceland with Secretary of State George Schultz (J.K. Simmons) in tow. He hopes to convince Gorbachev (Jared Harris) to agree to nuclear arms reduction. Their strategies are quite different. Reagan wants to get there by first talking about human rights; Gorbachev wants assurances that the United States will abandon its Strategic Defense Initiative. At times, the sessions are cordial, with both men agreeing the world would be a better place without nuclear weapons. Other times, they butt heads strongly, disagreeing over the best method of making that happen.

In between these dialogue-heavy scenes, the film follows two journalists covering the event, as well as the CIA and KGB teams sharing office space in the basement of the building. This material is presumably to prevent monotony, although there’s little interesting about it. Slightly better is a long-distance public relations rivalry between Nancy Reagan (Hope Davis) and Raisa Gobrachev (Branka Katic).

Written and directed by Michael Russell Gunn, The Brink of War is undeniably a talky movie. Large chunks of it are the two leaders sitting at opposite ends of a large table, locked into an intellectual battle where each of them is trying to get concessions without giving too many of their own. Gunn’s dialogue is occasionally heavy-handed, but it does give Daniels and Harris plenty to work with. Complex political issues are streamlined so the audience can easily follow them. Both men make cogent points, giving weight to how delicate the deliberations are. Taking an “America good, Russia bad” approach would have been easy. Recognizing the gray area generates more suspense.

Jeff Daniels may seem an unlikely choice to play Ronald Reagan. He’s nevertheless fantastic. The actor smartly avoids doing an impersonation of the former president. He captures the cadence of Reagan’s speech and some of his mannerisms yet never turns his performance into distracting caricature. Best of all, Daniels shows how Reagan consistently walks a high-wire, making second-by-second decisions on whether to give a little bit or push harder. This is a fascinating, multi-layered piece of acting.

Jared Harris is equally good, providing Gorbachev with a cunning, hot-and-cold vibe that allows him to be a formidable adversary. He can be genial, expressing a clear desire for peace, or he can deliver a stinging rebuke, as when he taunts Reagan about John Hinkley’s assassination attempt. Harris and Daniels are an exceptional onscreen duo, and they are ably backed by J.K. Simmons, exuding right-hand-man solidarity as Schultz.

The Brink of War, like every film based on actual events, takes liberties with the material, condensing things for clarity or fictionalizing them to heighten the drama. It still paints a riveting portrait of one of the most important summits ever held. The Reagan/Gorbachev meeting took place before 24-hour cable news channels and the internet existed to give us endless analysis of current events. Seeing it dramatized drives home what a tenuous time it was and how the willingness of two enemies to sit down and prioritize peace changed our world for the better.