Petruccelli in a series of Montreal sets), he brings Emily along. So when Dad wangles a job interview with the Secret Service inside the building (realistically duplicated by production designer Kirk M. Capitol Police, assigned to guarding Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (the veteran Richard Jenkins), Cale burns to be a Secret Service agent keeping watch over President James Sawyer (a low-key Jamie Foxx), an idealist who’s pushing a controversial plan for peace in the Middle East.Ĭale didn’t even vote for Sawyer, but he’s a divorced dad in the doghouse with his sullen 11-year-old daughter Emily (Joey King), and she just happens to be obsessed with all things White House. Yes, Cale’s had a rough past, including two combat tours overseas and an insubordinate personality that’s made holding a job difficult, but his aspirations extend all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.Ĭurrently an employee of the U.S.

Tatum plays John Cale, a man with a dream. Someone, however, who just happens to possess the kind of extraordinary skill set that comes in handy when the fate of this nation, not to mention the entire free world, is on the line. Here, however, he has the benefit of a script by James Vanderbilt (“Zodiac,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”) that has a fine pulp premise and keeps the cringe-worthy lines to a minimum.Įmmerich also has the great benefit of Tatum, an actor who is ideally cast as the kind of regular guy you might not look at twice. Emmerich, as the $3 billion worldwide gross accumulated from films such as “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow” indicates, is a director with an instinct for the obvious, a past master at making overblown versions of old-fashioned Saturday matinee-type stories.īut though the director knows how to keep action moving, he’s done himself no favors in the past as a screenwriter.

Cast of white house down