Dir:William Friedkin St: Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Greenwood, Guy Pearce.
Released UK August 2000
William Friedkin falls into the same category of directors as the likes of John Frankenheimer, John Schlesinger and Mike Nichols – namely they are all has been directors still living off past glories and as a result, are hanging around long after their sell-by date. All four have had notable flops this year. Frankenheimer’s ‘Reindeer Games’ (out at the end of the month now called ‘Deception’) tanked big time at Christmas whilst Schlesinger’s ‘The Next Best Thing’ and Nichols’ ‘What Planet are You From?’ performed so badly that the former only got a release in the UK because of the stars involved and the latter may well not get a release at all. Rules of Engagement has done rather better across the Atlantic but its quality is so poor that you feel it will die a quick death when it arrives on our shores in August.
The new film from the director of The Exorcist and The French Connection is a military courtroom thriller in the style of Rob Reiner’s 1993 mega hit A Few Good Men. Whilst trying to avoid the Cruise/Nicholson courtroom showboating (although there are several scenes where Samuel L. Jackson shouts across the courtroom in a vain attempt to heighten the dramatic tension – see A Time To Kill (1996)), it also succeeds in avoiding any sense of suspense, thrills, charm or drama – and is quite possibly the most limp example of the genre that I have ever seen. Even the courtroom scenes at the end of the likes of Big Daddy and Patch Adams have more dramatic resonance than this movie and they were meant to be comedies (I use the term ‘comedy’ in the loosest possible sense, of course.)
A promising set up is let down by Friedkin’s almost complete incompetence. His previous movie, the execrable Jade, was the worst kind of unadulterated rubbish and this does nothing to enhance his rapidly crumbling reputation. Having saved his life in Vietnam, Col. Terry Childers (Jackson) calls on failed drunk Army lawyer Hayes Hodges (Jones) to defend him when he is accused of murder. For Childers is now a highly decorated marine commander and was accused of killing innocent protestors when called to rescue the US ambassador and his wife when their embassy in the Yemen comes under threat from a large demonstration backed up by snipers. Having lost several of his men from gunfire seemingly coming from the crowd, Jackson orders his marines to return fire, thus killing most of the protestors and causing a major international incident. As Childers cannot prove that the crowd had weapons – the only evidence of this is on the embassy security tape conveniently recovered and destroyed by the dastardly National Security Adviser (Greenwood) for a reason that is never really explained – he is charged with murdering the crowd who were deemed to be no real threat to him or his men. A million other potentially interesting plot strings including the traitorous ambassador (Ben Kingsley) and his wife are thrown into the mix but never really developed. When the finale arrives, it is not in any way a surprise but completely illogical considering the evidence at hand. Why bring these elements up if you aren’t going to use them to further the film’s dramatic quality? All in all, the film just devolves into an anti climax, which leaves you feeling completely frustrated and cheated.
The acting is ok, I suppose. Jones and Jackson can do this thing in their sleep; Greenwood makes an enjoyably hissable villain whilst Guy Pearce (Mike from Neighbours – I still keep expecting Jason and Kylie to turn up in every film he makes) turns up as the prosecutor but with the most bizarre and annoying accent that you could possibly imagine. But as for the rest of it, it is easily the worst film of the year to date. Don’t waste your time seeing it – watch Sidney Lumet’s excellent Twelve Angry Men or The Verdict instead – both are far superior to this worthless uninvolving misfire.
Luke Watts.
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