History Film / ThePeacemaker

* AntiVillain: Gavrić. He is portrayed more sympathetically than the other main antagonists in the movie. While the others are in it for the money, he has more personal motivations: [[spoiler: his wife and daughter were killed in Sniper Alley during the Yugoslav Wars. Rather than blame any of the warring sides, he blamed the West for supplying them with the arms to commit those atrocities - his plan to set off a bomb at the UN Headquarters is an act of revenge.]]

-->'''Kodoroff''': Fucking refugees. Azerbaijani, Georgians, Kazakhs...
-->'''Mirich''': Don't curse them.
-->'''Kodoroff''': I don't care whose bitch gave birth to them. Muslim, Serb... [[KillThePoor I hate them because they are poor.]]

-->'''Devoe''': Doctor, you can run your charts and your theories all you want. In the field, this is how it works: the good guys, that's us, we chase the bad guys. And they don't wear black hats. They are, however, all alike: they demand power, and respect, and they're willing to pay top dollar to get it. And that is our highly motivated buyer.
-->'''Kelly''': What about other motivations?
-->'''Devoe''': Not important to me.
-->'''Kelly''': Whether it's important to you or not, there are people out there who don't care about money and don't give a damn about respect. People who believe the killing of innocent men and women is justified. For them it is about rage, frustration, hatred. They feel pain and they're determined to share it with the world.

--->'''Irate German tourist''': Who are the fascists now?!

--->'''Devoe''': OK. Officially, he's an asshole. He'll do anything for money, which is good, 'cause it makes him predictable.

A collision of Russian trains results in a nuclear explosion that turns out to be a cover for theft of other weapons. An official in the US State Department overseeing nuclear weapons, Dr. Julia Kelly (Kidman), and a U.S. Army Special Forces officer. Lt. Col. Devoe (Clooney), must work together to find and recover the stolen nukes before they can be used. The movie was filmed in Slovakia and parts of the former Eastern Bloc as well as UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. An example of the post-Cold War era in film making, it still retains a great deal of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar focus on the Russian threat and American world supremacy.

''The Peacemaker'' is a movie from 1997 directed by Mimi Leder, staring Creator/NicoleKidman and Creator/GeorgeClooney. It is notably known for being the first film to released by [[Creator/DreamWorksSKG DreamWorks]].

* VillainousRescue: Twice in quick succession. [[spoiler: Gavrić is cornered and about to be arrested by the NYPD, when his brother arrives just in time to kill them and take off. When Devoe corners him 'again,' the brother shows up *again* and distracts them enough for Gavrić to escape.]]

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Kelly uses the butt of Deoe's=] pistol as a hammer when [[spoiler:trying to damage the detonator on the last bomb]]. But given that [[spoiler:if she failed to knock out one of the detonating charges, the bomb would vaporize a good chunk of New York in thirty seconds]], she might not have ''cared'' about the possibility of the gun going off and shooting her.

* AntiAir: The Russian air defenses do ''not'' think kindly of Devoe bringing 3 heavily armed choppers full of commandos into their territory. As a result, he leaves with only 2. Though it's implied that Kodoroff used his connections to that effect.

A collision of Russian trains results in a nuclear explosion that turns out to be a cover for theft of other weapons. An official in the US State Department overseeing nuclear weapons, Dr. Julia Kelly (Kidman), and a U.S. Army Special Forces officer. Lt. Col. [=DeVoe=] (Clooney), must work together to find and recover the stolen nukes before they can be used. The movie was filmed in Slovakia and parts of the former Eastern Bloc as well as UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. An example of the post-Cold War era in film making, it still retains a great deal of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar focus on the Russian threat and American world supremacy.

* AntiAir: The Russian air defenses do ''not'' think kindly of [=DeVoe=] bringing 3 heavily armed choppers full of commandos into their territory. As a result, he leaves with only 2. Though it's implied that Kodoroff used his connections to that effect.
-->'''[=DeVoe=]''': ...if a top-ranking Russian general is involved, any intel we get from Moscow is either compromised... or a flat-out ''lie.''

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Kelly uses the butt of [=DeVoe's=] pistol as a hammer when [[spoiler:trying to damage the detonator on the last bomb]]. But given that [[spoiler:if she failed to knock out one of the detonating charges, the bomb would vaporize a good chunk of New York in thirty seconds]], she might not have ''cared'' about the possibility of the gun going off and shooting her.

** A double example occurs when Kelly and [=DeVoe=] are given the passenger manifest for the train carrying nuclear weapons. Kelly states that it's meaningless, but when [=DeVoe=] retorts that it's simply in Russian, Kelly reveals that she does, in fact, speak Russian - the list is meaningless because it gives only names, not ranks or positions. [=DeVoe=] in turn reveals that he, too, speaks Russian... and the pair have their first EurekaMoment when he recognizes one of the names on the list.
** When [=DeVoe=] and Kelly meet with Vertikoff, the latter switches to Russian to tell [=DeVoe=] she's out of his league. Kelly retorts (in Russian) that he has no idea...

** [=DeVoe=] tells the senate committee that he had a friend who provided a factory-fresh SUV. Later on Kodoroff reveals it was a stolen vehicle [=DeVoe=] bought on the black market.
** Overlapping with StealthPun. Shortly after being assigned to work with Dr. Kelly, [=DeVoe=] describes his worldview by stating, "The good guys - that's us - we chase the bad guys, and they don't wear black hats." A little while later, the pair find themselves in a car chase... a car chase which not only pits their (light) grey car against several black ones, but in which ''they'' are the ones being chased!

** [=DeVoe's=] call to enter Russian airspace ends up getting one of the choppers shot down by Russian [=SAMs=]. Even though the mission succeeded, he becomes torn up by it.

* CarFu: [=DeVoe=] takes out several mob figures chasing them by using the armored Mercedes Benz S500 in a impromptu demolition derby. He rams one (smaller) car through an exterior wall, runs another one into an outdoor cafe, and jumps over a third one, nearly ripping of its roof in the process before finishing another one off by repeatedly ramming into them until their gas tank ruptures and catches fire.

--->'''[=DeVoe=]:''' Sir, it's not our war.

* ColonelBadass: [=DeVoe=].

* DeathFromAbove[=/=]ICanSeeYou: Invoked by [=DeVoe=], who knows Kodoroff is in a long line of trucks at the Iranian border they can see on a live satellite feed, but they can't tell which one. [=DeVoe=] rings up Kodoroff's mobile and makes him think there's a guided missile coming down on him right now, causing Kodoroff to pull out of the line and give away his position.

* DeskJockey: [=DeVoe=]'s AF NCO buddy who's been listening in on satellites.

* DeadpanSnarker: [=DeVoe=] is quite a smart-ass around people.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: [=DeVoe=]'s personality is fairly well presented with his [[HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee testimony before a Senate Subcommittee]] on the interception of a shipment of nerve gas. [[LetMeGetThisStraight To note]]; it involved a Russian colonel friend, a hooker, and a $5,200 bar tab(that resulted in a {{Bar BRAWL}}). And he paid off the colonel by smuggling in a SUV for the colonel's teenage daughter.
* EurekaMoment: Kelly and [=DeVoe=] trade these back and forth, based on their specialties.

** [=DeVoe=] realizes that the train wreck was a hijacking because satellite photographs show men abandoning a second train about to collide with it - but not the one with the nuke, as everyone on it was already dead in a ''[[EmptyQuiver hijacking]]''. He also recognizes Kodoroff as being ''way'' too important to be on a nuclear missile transport - and thus the one who set off the nuke.

* EveryManHasHisPrice: At one point, Dr. Kelly questions Colonel [=DeVoe's=] ethics due to his aptness in using bribery to get things done in Eastern Europe. He returns her scorn by explaining that when in Rome, you bribe like the Romans...

-->'''[=DeVoe=]:''' What do you think I am; some gung-ho stupid son-of-a-bitch?

* FreshClue: Colonel [=DeVoe=] realizes their bomber just left because the breakfast eggs are still warm. In fact, the bomber went down one elevator just as his team was going up the other.

* GenreSavvy: Both [=DeVoe=] and Kelly, but in different and complementary ways; they each have their moments of WrongGenreSavvy where they need the other person to straighten them out.
** [=DeVoe=] understands the transactional world of the black market and the greed that drove the Soviet system and its alumni like Kodoroff perfectly well, which allows him, among other things, to recognize that the Urals nuclear bomb wasn't an accident or a terrorist attack but an exceptionally daring heist. It also helps him predict Kodoroff's actions throughout the film reasonably well. He's completely wrong, however, to think that Kodoroff's buyer is the same kind of person.

-->'''[=DeVoe=]''': Doctor, you can run your charts and your theories all you want. In the field, this is how it works: the good guys, that's us, we chase the bad guys. And they don't wear black hats. They are, however, all alike: they demand power, and respect, and they're willing to pay top dollar to get it. And that is our highly motivated buyer.

-->'''[=DeVoe=]''': Not important to me.

* HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee: [=DeVoe=] thinks outside the box - ''way'' outside the box.

* ItsPersonal: Unusually for this trope, we never find out what lies behind it, but it's clear that [=DeVoe=] and Kodoroff hate each other's guts.

** Kelly. It comes out while she and [=DeVoe=] are engaged in verbal arm-wrestling.

* JustPlaneWrong: The helicopters used by [=DeVoe's=] team when intercepting the truck carry US Air Force markings, but look to be some variant of the Dolphin/Dauphin. While some are flown by the US Coast Guard, the Air Force has never flown this helicopter; an MH-60 Pave Hawk or possibly an MH-53 Pave Low would be the helicopter of choice for this mission at the time of filming. Additionally, while the two tone green over grey camouflage pattern on the helicopters does mimic that of some A-10 paint schemes, an overall grey paint job would have been more appropriate.
* MilitaryMaverick: [=DeVoe=] - see HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee above.

* OhCrap: Kelly gets this when [=DeVoe=] reports successfully reclaiming [[spoiler:eight]] nuclear warheads - because [[spoiler:[=SS18=] missiles have ''ten'' warheads each - one of which was set off in an attempt to cover up the theft of the other nine. That leaves one unaccounted for - in the hands of someone pissed off enough to use it]].

--->'''[=DeVoe=]''': OK. Officially, he's an asshole. He'll do anything for money, which is good, 'cause it makes him predictable.

* OpposingCombatPhilosophies: [=DeVoe=] and Kelly - who don't let it get in the way of their shared goal.

** As a Lieutenant Colonel, [=DeVoe=] conceivably is of appropriate rank for a Pentagon staff officer, however once the bullets start flying, he spends most of his time running and gunning alongside the troops assigned to him, rather than staying behind where he can see the big picture. Justified in that he is a Special Operations Lieutenant Colonel: while he is a command-level officer of normal armed forces, Special Operations soldiers are notoriously hesitant to lose their experienced officers and keep them in active soldiering posts much longer.
** In-universe, this trope serves as a plot point early on. When Dr. Kelly is reading through the passenger manifest of the destroyed nuclear weapons train, Col. [=DeVoe=] hears a name he recognizes... and immediately seizes on the fact that ''General'' Kodoroff is of far too high a rank to be personally babysitting a handful of nuclear warheads.
* PrecisionFStrike: A dying [[spoiler: Kodoroff's]] response when [=DeVoe=] asks him where the terrorists are headed: FUCK YOU!

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [=DeVoe=] goes on one when [[spoiler:Dimitri is killed; not even caring about the papers they were stealing, just killing the assassins. Afterwards he berates himself that he got too close to someone InHarmsWay because he thought that a facilitator like Dimitri was too useful to kill out of hand.]]
* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Evenly split between both heroes and villains, with [=DeVoe=] and Kodoroff on Team Enlightenment (they have a fairly transactional and consumerist view of the world, as you might expect given the way the black market and political corruption take up so much of their lives), while Kelly and Gavrić represent Team Romanticism (more able to understand idealistic, emotional, symbolic aspects of human behavior). On a bigger scale, the movie also describes (see Central Theme above) the transition away from the Cold War struggle defined by rationalistic and materialistic ideologies of communism and capitalism, and towards a post-Cold-War era of ethnic and sectarian warfare in former client states increasingly blowing back onto the West.

** Exploited by Kelly. When Gavrić's initial plan [[spoiler:to blow up the UN]] is interrupted, he flees and the protagonists lose track of him. [=DeVoe=] bemoans he can just hide behind a dumpster and wait for the timer, but Kelly, knowing his motivation, believes he will look for a location of symbolic significance. [[spoiler: They find him in a church.]]

* SacrificialLamb: Dmitri Vertikoff is [=DeVoe's=] friend and contact within the Russian military. He is killed by mobsters in his third scene, the first named character to die.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: [=DeVoe=] violates Russian airspace in order to stop the convoy of warheads heading to Iran.
* StealthPun: Early on, [=DeVoe=] lectures Kelly that the bad guys "don't wear black hats"... yet when the pair get into a car chase, they find themselves in a (light) grey Mercedes pursued by several black [=BMWs=].
* StrawCivilian: Averted. Kelly doesn't approve of guns or of [=DeVoe=], but she's a rounded character who holds her own.

* TheUpperCrass: Kodoroff. As Vertikoff explains, he's from a generation of senior officers who were always able to game the communist system so that none of its inconveniences applied to them. While some Soviet aristocrats might have at least paid lip service to the values of their system, however, Kodoroff will do literally anything for money and quite openly admits that he hates poor people. He also has a generally unpleasant personality, and a tendency to shoot or threaten to shoot anybody he begins to find inconvenient. Or annoying. [=DeVoe=]'s simplistic "he's an asshole" really sums up the character very well.
* VillainousRescue: Twice in quick succession. [[spoiler: Gavrić is cornered and about to be arrested by the NYPD, when his brother arrives just in time to kill them and take off. When [=DeVoe=] corners him 'again,' the brother shows up *again* and distracts them enough for Gavrić to escape.]]

** A double example occurs when Kelly and [DeVoe=] are given the passenger manifest for the train carrying nuclear weapons. Kelly states that it's meaningless, but when [=DeVoe=] retorts that it's simply in Russian, Kelly reveals that she does, in fact, speak Russian - the list is meaningless because it gives only names, not ranks or positions. [=DeVoe=] in turn reveals that he, too, speaks Russian... and the pair have their first EurekaMoment when he recognizes one of the names on the list.

** Overlapping with StealthPun. Shortly after being assigned to work with Dr. Kelly, [=DeVoe=] describes his worldview by stating, "The good guys - that's us - we chase the bad guys, and they don't wear black hats." A little while later, the pair find themselves in a car chase... a car chase which not only pits their (off-)white car against several black onnes, but in which ''they'' are the ones being chased!

* OutrankingYourJob: As a Lieutenant Colonel, [=DeVoe=] conceivably is of appropriate rank for a Pentagon staff officer, however once the bullets start flying, he spends most of his time running and gunning alongside the troops assigned to him, rather than staying behind where he can see the big picture. Justified in that he is a Special Operations Lieutenant Colonel: while he is a command-level officer of normal armed forces, Special Operations soldiers are notoriously hesitant to lose their experienced officers and keep them in active soldiering posts much longer.

%%* RenegadeRussian: Kodoroff. Though he's really OnlyInItForTheMoney.

%%* SacrificialLamb: Dmitri Verdikoff.

* TheUpperCrass: Kodoroff. As Verdikoff explains, he's from a generation of senior officers who were always able to game the communist system so that none of its inconveniences applied to them. While some Soviet aristocrats might have at least paid lip service to the values of their system, however, Kodoroff will do literally anything for money and quite openly admits that he hates poor people. He also has a generally unpleasant personality, and a tendency to shoot or threaten to shoot anybody he begins to find inconvenient. Or annoying. [=DeVoe=]'s simplistic "he's an asshole" really sums up the character very well.

%%* BilingualBackfire: The backfire ends up on [=DeVoe=]. Twice.

* BrickJoke: [=DeVoe=] tells the senate committee that he had a friend who provided a factory-fresh SUV. Later on Kodoroff reveals it was a stolen vehicle [=DeVoe=] bought on the black market.

''The Peacemaker'' is a movie from 1997 directed by Mimi Leder, staring Creator/NicoleKidman and Creator/GeorgeClooney. It is notably known for being the first film to released by Creator/DreamWorks.

''The Peacemaker'' is a movie from 1997 directed by Mimi Leder, staring Creator/NicoleKidman and Creator/GeorgeClooney. It was the first film released by Creator/DreamWorks.

---> "I am a Serb. I am a Croat. I am a Muslim."

* BigDamnVillains: Twice in quick succession. [[spoiler: Gavrić is cornered and about to be arrested by the NYPD, when his brother arrives just in time to kill them and take off. When [=DeVoe=] corners him 'again,' the brother shows up *again* and distracts them enough for Gavrić to escape.]]
* BilingualBackfire: The backfire ends up on [=DeVoe=]. Twice.

* MultiNationalTeam: IFOR.

* RenegadeRussian: Kodoroff. Though he's really OnlyInItForTheMoney.

* SacrificialLamb: Dmitri Verdikoff.

* BigDamnVillains: [[spoiler: Gavrić is cornered and about to be arrested by the NYPD, when his brother arrives just in time to kill them and take off.]]

A collision of Russian trains results in a nuclear explosion that turns out to be a cover for theft of other weapons. An official in the US State Department overseeing nuclear weapons, Dr. Julia Kelly (Kidman), and a U.S. Army Special Forces officer. Lt. Col. [=DeVoe=] (Clooney), must work together to find and recover the stolen nukes before they can be used. The movie was filmed in Slovakia and parts of the former Eastern Bloc as well as UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. An example of the post-[[{{TheGreatPoliticsMessUp}} Cold War]] era in film making, it still retains a great deal of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar focus on the Russian threat and American world supremacy.

Has nothing to do with the comic book character ComicBook/{{Peacemaker}}.

** Just below this is a thoughtful undertone of how Russia really ''was'' under Soviet rule; {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s and {{Corrupt Politician}}s who were immune to their obstruction - and how America is NotSoDifferent when it comes to how they treated their pawns.

* PrecisionFStrike / FamousLastWords: A dying [[spoiler: Kodoroff's]] response when [=DeVoe=] asks him where the terrorists are headed: FUCK YOU!

* CarFu: =DeVoe= takes out several mob figures chasing them by using the armored Mercedes Benz S500 in a impromptu demolition derby. He rams one (smaller) car through an exterior wall, runs another one into an outdoor cafe, and jumps over a third one, nearly ripping of its roof in the process before finishing another one off by repeatedly ramming into them until their gas tank ruptures and catches fire.

** WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell - and a better examination of it than most. The Americans are simultaneously relieved the UsefulNotes/ColdWar is over and exasperated that such a mess was left behind. The Russians are asking SoWhatDoWeDoNow. The small countries that had been their battlefield are left with lots of combat experience, and just as much reason to use it on the people responsible for it. The result is [[spoiler:a terrorist attack on New York]]. ''[[HarsherInHindsight Umm...]] '''[[TheWarOnTerror Ouch?]]''' ''

* ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: averted, in that Dr. Kelly actually does know what she's talking about (and the script-writers got the details largely correct).

* BookEnds: The film starts and ends in a church.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: [=DeVoe's=] call to enter Russian airspace ends up getting one of the choppers shot down by Russian [=SAMs=]. Even though the mission succeeded, he becomes torn up by it.

* CentralTheme: WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell - and a better examination of it than most. The Americans are simultaneously relieved the UsefulNotes/ColdWar is over and exasperated that such a mess was left behind. The Russians are asking SoWhatDoWeDoNow The small countries that had been their battlefield are left with lots of combat experience, and just as much reason to use it on the people responsible for it. The result is [[spoiler:a terrorist attack on New York]]. ''[[HarsherInHindsight Umm...]] '''[[TheWarOnTerror Ouch?]]''' ''

* EmptyQuiver: only regarding Russian nukes this time.

* FriendlySniper: in a minor capacity, and it's more ColdSniper, inverted.

* HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee: [=DeVoe=] thinks outside the box - *way* outside the box.

* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Kelly. It comes out while she and [=DeVoe=] are engaged in verbal arm-wrestling.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [=DeVoe=] goes on when when [[spoiler:Dimitri is killed; not even caring about the papers they were stealing, just killing the assassins. Afterwards he belates that he let himself get too close to someone InHarmsWay because he thought that a facilitator like Dimitri was too useful to kill out of hand.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism: Exploited by Kelly. When Gavrić's initial plan [[spoiler:to blow up the UN]] is interrupted, he flees and the protagonists lose track of him. [=DeVoe=] bemoans he can just hide behind a dumpster and wait for the timer, but Kelly, knowing his motivation, believes he will look for a location of symbolic significance. [[spoiler: They find him in a church.]]