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THE SKINNY
A poor man’s A Few Good Men meets your standard “buddy movie”

THE BOTTOM LINE
Rent A Few Good Men (even if you’ve already seen it)

THE FULL REVIEW
It is unfortunate that Rules of Engagement has been doing so well at the box office, because it is quite obvious that the makers of this formulaic military courtroom drama didn’t feel the need to put forth any creative effort in bringing their production to the big screen. The film is nothing more than a poorly written collection of cliches and unbelievable characters.

When a large and unruly crowd of demonstrators surrounds the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, Col. Terry Childers, played by Samuel L. Jackson (The Negotiator, Pulp Fiction, Jungle Fever) is called in to lead a squadron of Marines to stabilize the situation. After coming under heavy fire from Yemeni snipers, the Marines successfully evacuate Ambassador Mourain, played by Ben Kingsley (Scindler’s List, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Gandhi), and his family. The situation goes bad, however, when Childers orders his squadron to fire upon the crowd of demonstrators. In the end, three Marines are killed along with more than the 80 Yemeni men, women and children.

Fearful of how this incident with impact U.S. relations with its Middle East allies, National Security Adviser William Sokal, played by Bruce Greenwood (Double Jeopardy, The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica), targets Childers as a scapegoat. Facing a court-martial for violating the rules of engagement by killing unarmed civilians, Childers, who contends the protesters were armed and had opened fire on the Embassy, turns to his longtime friend, Col. Hays Hodges, played by Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black, The Fugitive, Coal Miner’s Daughter), to defend him.

Although at times engaging, the film’s screenplay, written by Stephen Gaghan and based on a story by James Webb, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, is riddled with flaws. The characters were either painfully unoriginal, or they were so poorly written that their actions often seemed contradictory or just plain nonsensical. Here are just a few examples:

Tommy Lee Jones’ character was unnecessarily portrayed as the stereotypical divorced, recovering alcoholic military guy who couldn’t measure up to his father. Why paint such a negative picture of one of the film’s central characters when those qualities never have any real relevance to the plot?
Bruce Greenwood’s character comes across as so blatantly corrupt, that it is inconceivable to imagine that he could have been trusted with the role of National Security Advisor.
The actress who plays the mother of Col. Hays Hodges looks young enough to be Tommy Lee Jones’ wife. They could have gotten any 70-year old actress to play that part. Why pick someone that looked like she could have been 50?
Even though Col. Childers put his own life at risk to save the life of the Ambassador and his wife, played by Anne Archer, those two characters show absolutely no remorse when lying about and helping to conceal the truth about what actually happened at the Embassy in Yemen.
Finally, the prosecutor in the case, Maj. Mark Biggs, played by Guy Pearce (Ravenous, L.A. Confidential, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), is one of the more weakly written and perplexing characters in the film. The character’s first major problem is that he is the stereotypical young, hotshot attorney, who would be described by Childers as “some Starbucks drinker who’s never seen combat.” Hmmm…I wonder who the audience should root for in this film, the decorated Marine who was injured during the Vietnam War or the young “desk jockey” who’s never seen any action. The second major problem with Biggs is that when first introduced to this character (and at one other time during the film), the audience is set up to believe that he will somehow ultimately come to the defense of Childers. Not only does this not happen, but when the trial ends, Biggs states that he is now going to go after Childers for a “crime” he committed during the Vietnam War. Ridiculous!
The worst part about this film is that it completely missed the opportunity to effectively address an important issue that not only faces U.S. soldiers deployed around the world in various peacekeeping missions (the Balkans, Somalia), but one that also faces police officers here in the U.S. every day (Amadou Diallo, Rodney King). How do these “peacekeepers” decide when it is necessary to use deadly force? When are they overstepping their authority? And, perhaps most importantly, how can ordinary civilians, who have never faced the “heat of battle,” reasonably and fairly judge the actions of soldiers and police officers.

By: Craig Ettinger

HIGHLIGHTS
*A few intense action scenesÂ
*A strong cast (Jackson, Jones and Pearce)

LOWLIGHTS
*A strong cast - but the talent is wasted
*A preposterous fight scene between Childers and Hodges
*You’ve heard the rest