The President's Staff

The President's Staff is a 1998 disaster thriller film, directed by Bruce Malmuth and starring Geraldo Rivera, Michael Keaton, and Richard Jenkins. The movie starts by introducing the President of the United States, played by Michael Keaton, who has just been sworn into office. As he begins his first day in office, a new intern, played by a relatively unknown actor at the time, Geraldo Rivera, is introduced and thrust into the chaos of the Oval Office. Unbeknownst to the President and his new intern, two FBI agents, dressed as maintenance workers, infiltrate the White House by disguising themselves as maintenance staff. Their true intentions are revealed as they detonate small explosive devices that have been rigged to the windows and doors of the Oval Office, effectively trapping the President, his intern, and two FBI special agents - specializing in fiber optic technology and communication systems - inside. The President, a former military man with leadership and decision-making skills, quickly assesses the situation and orders his team to figure out the cause and potential escape routes. Initially, the team believes it is an act of terrorism, which adds to the urgency of escaping the situation but it is later revealed that it may be an inside job. As they begin to communicate using their handheld devices, they soon discover that the devices are also rigged and could cause an explosion at any moment, further reducing their options. One fiber optics expert uses his knowledge to bypass the security system but realizes that all exit routes have also been compromised by explosives. As the situation unravels, the President and his staff try their best to figure out how to escape. The team realizes that the explosives are controlled remotely and, through some quick hacking by one of the experts, they manage to disable the control system and begin searching the room for a possible hidden way out. Meanwhile, the FBI agents continue to investigate the cause of the explosives and are determined to find out if it's an inside job. They reveal that the explosives may have been planted by one of the President's own advisors or possibly a staff member with access to the White House. The situation becomes more intense, as they have to find the person behind the setup and their potential motives for such a drastic move. As time ticks down, the team's hopes of escape dwindle, and tensions rise. With the potential danger looming large and a possibility of an explosion imminently, they begin to take action. They devise a plan that involves disabling all the explosives, and then they can make their escape. In the final act of the film, they manage to disable the explosives, and they make a daring escape through the window, just in time as the explosives detonate and nearly destroy the White House. The film ends with a sense of relief as everyone walks away unharmed but there's a lingering feeling that they've dodged an attempt on the President's life. Ultimately, the story is driven by a series of events that test the characters physically, emotionally, and mentally, all culminating in a suspenseful climax that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end.