Lacerating black comedy...

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2005)

From Peter George's book "Red Alert", turned by writer-director Stanley Kubrick into a movie signpost of the paranoid times. Plot has the American President trying to assimilate and explain unprovoked A-Bomb attack by the U.S. on Russia. Peter Sellers (in three wonderfully different roles) is amazing, George C. Scott just as good as matter-of-fact sergeant. Dark-humored essay on the craziness of war is troubling, disturbing, often highly entertaining. Kubrick, who co-adapted the screenplay with Terry Southern, does fabulous work. Supporting cast (including Sterling Hayden, James Earl Jones, Slim Pickens--in a marvelously showy role--and Keenan Wynn) are top-notch. *** from ****