# Siege, The (1998)

### reviewed by
Scott Renshaw

THE SIEGE (20th Century Fox) Starring: Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, Tony Shalhoub, Sami Bouajila. Screenplay: Lawrence Wright and Menno Meyjes & Edward Zwick. Producers: Lynda Obst and Edward Zwick. Director: Edward Zwick. MPAA Rating: R (violence, profanity, sexual situations, adult themes) Running Time: 114 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.

The makers of THE SIEGE probably are throwing up their hands, baffled by the protests voiced by Arab-American groups. The basic set-up, understandably, could hit a nerve: Arab terrorists, incensed over U.S. involvement in the disappearance of an Islamic religious/political leader, begin a massive bombing campaign in New York City. Initially, a joint task force led by F.B.I. special agent Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) is on the case, but tensions and animosities rise as they are unable to end the bombings. Eventually, the President imposes martial law in New York, charging U.S. Army General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis) with driving the perpetrators from hiding in Brooklyn's Arab-American community into the open -- even if it means imprisoning every young male of Arabic descent to find them.

You can feel co-writer/director Edward Zwick straining for every possible opportunity to make it clear that THE SIEGE is _not_ about Arab-bashing. Hubbard's partner Frank Haddad (Tony Shalhoub) is a Lebanese-born naturalized citizen; representatives from Arab-American anti-defamation groups stand up in meetings to voice their patriotism and to denounce terrorism; ominous music accompanies every shot of Arab-Americans trapped behind barbed wire fences; even the motivations of the terrorists are traced more to duplicitous U.S. foreign policy decisions than to fanatacism. As THE SIEGE builds to a series of speeches condemning the idea that extremism in the defense of security is no vice, you know that Zwick wants audiences to feel him championing the notion that Islam does not equal violent zealotry -- that Arab-Americans are people too.

There's one very important thing missing from THE SIEGE, however: a genuine connection to the people who are suffering. The film doesn't spend a second of personal time with a character actually interned in a detention camp, nor with individuals tortured by the military for information, nor with anyone victimized by anti-Arab hate crimes. They appear in forlorn masses, in news footage, or hidden behind doors. Yes, Shalhoub does get dialogue expressing outrage when his teenage son is taken prisoner, but the sentiment feels second-hand and token. During its final hour, THE SIEGE becomes a thoroughly generic thriller of chases and speeches -- more interested in being provocative than being empathetic, and more interested in the _idea_ of trampled rights than those whose rights are being trampled.

In fact, it's a shame THE SIEGE had to go there at all, because its first hour works so well as a crackling police procedure drama. Washington shares some exceptional scenes with Annette Bening as a secretive C.I.A. operative whose agenda may be very personal; their clashing tactics -- the rule of law vs. the rule of expediency -- make for first rate and surprisingly platitude-free sparring. Zwick directs the early action sequences with energy and economy, anchored by the always-satisfying images of determined people going about a difficult job with hard-nosed efficiency.

That exceptional first hour deteriorates into bloated nonsense as soon as Willis's General Devereaux starts marching his troops across the Brooklyn Bridge. Willis himself is a huge part of the problem, taking a potentially complex character and quickly turning him into a sneering caricature of military sadism. Even the fundamental honor and decency Washington brings to every role starts to seem like sanctimony, because the script isn't serious about getting into the gray areas of individual rights vs. societal needs. The concept deserves more than heroes and villains pointing guns at each other. Arab-Americans may be troubled by the idea that some Arab characters are portrayed as terrorists in THE SIEGE. They should be more troubled by the idea that, in a film with such an incendiary premise, Arab characters in general are more symbolic than substantial.

         On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 siege mentalities:  5.

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