Max Read offers a fascinating and amusing analysis of a 1990s genre he calls the "Dad Thriller." It's definitely worth a read. We wish we'd thought of it.
For example, here are some key questions to consider when deciding if a movie is a "Dad Thriller."
* Is Harrison Ford in the movie?
* Is the director Philip Noyce?
* Is there a satellite uplink?
* Is a key plot point a guy trying to get on the phone with the right guy to give him the correct information?
* Is there a shadowy cabal of lawyers and/or corporate executives?
* Is an American or English actor playing a current or former Irish Republican terrorist and attempting an unconvincing Irish accent?
* Is the main bad guy motivated by money? If he is motivated by ideology, are his politics incomprehensible and unrecognizable?
* Is the advice or warning of the movie's hero going unheeded by feckless bureaucrats?
* Is the main bad guy a former Soviet military commander?
* Is there a tense but ultimately productive exchange about race between a black guy and a white guy who are forced by circumstance to work together?
* Is the movie's hero obligated to go undertake a dangerous mission despite being an analyst, not field personnel?
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