Sunday, July 01, 2007

Rules of Engagement

I know this is an old movie...well, 2000. But anyways, as I am watching movies from any year, I might as well go ahead with the one I most recently saw.

Rules of Engagement stars Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson in the lead with Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Anne Archer among others. The movie is about U.S. Marines. During the Vietnam War, Jackson saved Jones' life. They built up a strong friendship over the years. Jones was hurt during that mission and so until he recovered, he studied law at Georgetown. 28 years later, Jones has retired and Jackson has been sent on a mission to Yemen commandeering a platoon to evacuate the American Embassy as it is facing a deadly protest and it may turn ugly. During the rescue, the crowd attacks the Marines and kills some of them. Jackson orders his platoon to fire into the crowd and kill all, even if the crowd had women and children.
Now there are 83 people dead in Yemen, and to avoid a major diplomatic issue, the NSA decides the make Jackson the scapegoat. He is charged with murder and not following the Rules Of Engagement.
Jackson asks Jones to defend him. After a lot of thought and then a trip to Yemen, Jones puts up a fight and finally gets a positive result. In this process, the Ambassador to Yemen had to lie and the State Department had to destroy evidence which would have exonerated Jackson.
All in all, a good film. But my recommendation, watch A Few Good Men instead. And if you have already watched it, then watch it again and again and again. Coz that's a really great military-courtroom drama. The director tried to make a film like that, but just failed. And in my honest opinion, Samuel L. Jackson, as good as an actor he may be, is not the right choice. I sense a kind of discontinuity when he acts, he fails to remain in the flow of the movie thereby making it worse than it should be. I saw a similar case in The Negotiator. I agree that is a good film, but Jackson cannot really keep with the flow as Kevin Spacey can. Tommy Lee Jones is a really good actor and he shows, but I can tell you, this film is a waste for him. He tries to make it good but just cannot help it. The direction is really not up to the mark. And actors like Ben Kingsley are wasted too. I cannot believe he would do a film like this.
My final word, if you really have nothing better to do, you can watch this film. But I believe you have better things to do. My rating is a 3/5

2 Comments:

Blogger Zaki M said...

seems you didnt like it at all - still a 3 rating? generous, hun ..

and nice to see you reviwing :D the sleeping blog

Need to watch A few good men over the weekend

5:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.

3:15 AM  

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