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'RULES'
FAILS TO BE THE LEAST BIT 'ENGAGING'...
Written by Daniel
Spear
Edited by Andrew Marcus
Cast:
Tommy Lee Jones (Colonel Hayes Hodges), Samuel L. Jackson
(Colonel L Childers), Guy Pierce (Major Mark Biggs),
Ben Kingsley (Ambassador Mourain), Blair Underwood (Captain
Lee)
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Premise:
Hayes Hodges finds his career aspirations dashed
when he's wounded in Vietnam combat. He then returns
to America and becomes a disillusioned lawyer who
goes up against the service to defend Colonel Terry
Childers, who is accused of inciting an incident
that leaves many demonstrators dead. Hodges in no
position to decline: Childers heroically saved his
life back in Vietnam. |
Overall
Rating:
Rated R
for language, violence
Rules
of Engagement is a story about a military commander
who, after rescuing the U.S. Ambassador from our Embassy
in Yemen, orders his troops to fire into a group of
more than eighty angry, violent protesting civilians.
The massacre is pictured on the front page of every
newspaper in the world, and American diplomacy with
every Arab nation is strained due to the orders of one
man. The U.S. government scapegoats the military commander,
played by Samuel L. Jackson, and brings him to trial.
But their case is not so black and white. Were the protestors
on the ground firing at U.S. troops on the roof of the
embassy, or was it only a few snipers from other buildings
who fired? Colonel Hodges, played by Tommy Lee Jones,
represents his old combat friend in court, seeking to
find out the truth about what really occurred.
Instead of investigating the what appears to be an interesting
legal case, Rules of Engagement relies on symbols
of American patriotism, offensive ethnic stereotyping,
and unnecessarily graphic photos of mutilated bodies,
to sway the emotions and opinions of the audience. The
actual courtroom scenes of the movie appear to be exempt
from normal legal procedures and are incredibly predictable.
In the end, the choice for the jury (as well as the
audience) is between condemning an honorable man, who
might have taken extreme measures but saved American
lives, or freeing someone who ordered the slaughter
of civilians and could have pursued alternative courses
of action. One's stance on this issue is highly personal
and complex, but the writers of Rules of Engagement
go to great lengths later in the movie, even introducing
new reenactments of the combat scene, to have us believe
solely in one-side of the argument.
The performances by Tommy Lee Jones as a humble, wounded
war veteran, and Samuel L. Jackson as the hotheaded
military commander are the only acts that warrant praise,
though their characters do not undergo any type of development.
The cocky, hot shot Major Mark Biggs and the manipulative
and corrupt National Security Advisor are also static
characters, simply used as displeasing devices to force
the audience to sympathize with the military commander,
without having us seriously consider whether his actions
were truly justified.
My concluding advice is this: If you want to see a gripping
and interesting courtroom drama relating to military
rules, make sure you do not see Rules of Engagement.
Instead, take a drive to your nearest video store and
rent A Few Good Men.
Images are taken from the official
website, owned by
Paramount Pictures
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