Bigelow’s ‘A House of Dynamite’ lights a fuse that doesn’t quite ignite

In Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” when a mysterious missile launches from the Pacific and begins bearing down on the Midwest, the biggest threat initially at the White House is a pile of paper work.

The ho-hum response that kicks off Bigelow’s firecracker of a film is quickly shattered. But that transition from routine to imminent danger, replayed three times over in this “Rashomon” meets “Dr. Strangelove,” is the defining register of Bigelow’s urgent, if heavy-handed nuclear wake-up call.

Words across the screen open the film, noting that global powers once worked to decrease nuclear weapons. “That era is now over,” declares the movie.

You might be thinking: As if we didn’t have enough to worry about. But no matter how many other existential concerns might be making a restf