Big Game

While en route to a peace conference in Helsinki, Air Force One is attacked from within as turncoat Secret Service agent Morris (Ray Stevenson) pushes the unpopular and ineffectual President of the United States (Samuel L. Jackson) into an escape pod that crashes into Finland's frozen wilderness. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Oskari (Onni Tommila), son of a renowned hunter, is undergoing a traditional rite-of-passage--spending 24 hours alone in Lapland's rugged terrain, armed only with a bow and arrow. What he hunts and kills on this walkabout in the wild will prove what kind of man he is. Witnessing the fiery crash, timid but determined Oskari discovers the wreckage and promises to lead President William Moore to safety, adding, “My forest, my rules.” But Morris, who parachuted to safety, and co-conspirator Hazar (Mehmet Kurtulus), the psychopathic illegitimate son of a Gulf oil sheik--who considers POTUS his ultimate trophy—is hot on their trail. Back in Washington, D.C., the incredulous Vice-President (Victor Garber) sputters, “You're telling me you lost the President like you lose a set of car keys?” Not surprisingly, the veep and Pentagon intelligence officers (Felicity Huffman, Ted Levine) declare Air Force One's disappearance to be “the most serious terrorist act since 9/11,” dispatching an experienced senior field analyst (Jim Broadbent) to lead a Special Forces unit on a rescue mission. Unfortunately, Finnish writer-director Jamlari Helander's escapist action-adventure laughably strains credulity. Optional. (S. Granger)