# Rules of Engagement (2000)

### reviewed by
Lars Lindahl

Review by Lars Lindahl (larsattacks@mail.com)

    "Rules of Engagement" (2000)

    ** (out of four)

Starring Samuel L. Jackson,Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Anne Archer, Blair Underwood, and Philip Baker Hall.

    Directed by William Friedkin
    Written by Stephen Gaghan

The military courtroom drama called Rules of Engagement is missing something crucial from its story: an ending. The film just stops out of nowhere, crushing the little excitement it had built up in its previous hour and a half. It felt like the filmmakers ran out of film and were forced to release whatever they had taped. The script just contained an expedient, lazy finish. The poor ending was upsetting because I sat through the monotonous first three quarters of the movie hoping for a thrilling, unpredictable conclusion. All that was given were some words on the screen explaining what eventually happened to each of the main characters' lives. Warning: don't expect a grand finale.

Featuring an all star cast, the movie has an interesting premise. When anarchy erupts in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen, a group of marines led by Colonel Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) rush to the scene in order to evacuate the embassy containing the ambassador (Ben Kingsley) and his family. At the heat of the moment, things get out of hand when three marines are shot down. The question is who shot them? Childers thinking it was citizens with guns protesting below, orders his men to fire at the civilians. The marines kill eighty three civilians and when no guns are found on the civilians, America is forced to explain what happened. In order to make it seem like America was not to blame, top officials (including Bruce Greenwood, doing his usual role) frame and prosecute Childers saying he made an incorrect order. When evidence is destroyed and witnesses hushed, it is an innocent Childers against the government. Only Colonel Hays Hodges (well acted by Tommy Lee Jones), a Vietnam pal of Childers and retired lawyer doing one more case, can defend Childers and prove to the jury that he is innocent.

Rules of Engagement is an ok movie. I didn't feel sick once it was over but I didn't feel like celebrating either. For a film that brags about its intensity, there was not much present besides the chaotic, loud, and ultimately exciting scene which the trial revolves around. The courtroom scenes in which the characters cursed and screamed at each other were nothing new or edge-of-your-seat. Every member of the cast had done something like this before; Samuel L. Jackson does this type of movie every year (think A Time to Kill meets The Negotiator), and Tommy Lee Jones and Bruce Greenwood played rivals in Double Jeopardy just last year. The organization of the film may have hurt the excitement level expected from moviegoers. With the incident in Yemen occurring during the first half hour of the film, the rest of the movie seemed very dull and bland in comparison.

The little things in Rules of Engagement distracted me more than the plot holes and boring speeches. Guy Pearce's ridiculous overacting as the prosecuting lawyer is a prime example of the little things hurting the overall picture. Another distraction is a pointless scene in which Childers and Hodges bond together by beating each other up until blood shows, Fight Club style. Worse than that, Childers now has an annoying black eye for the rest of the movie which caught my attention more than his speeches declaring innocence. Another mistake is the disappearance of some of the actors halfway through the movie. The ambassador and his wife (Anne Archer) as well as a marine who was skeptical of Childers decision (Blair Underwood), although they are very important characters, appear very briefly in the film just adding the feeling like the movie wasn't really finished when the producers released it.

Rules of Engagement is something you've seen before except without an ending. That is the best way to describe it.

    Grade: ** (out of four)

    Lars Attacks!
    A teenager attacks past and present cinema
    http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/larsattacks

    (c) 2000 Lars Lindahl
    larsattacks@mail.com

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