Waco: The Rules of Engagement Review
by bob bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)April 9th, 2000
Rules of Engagement (2000) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Guy Pearce, Bruce Greenwood and Ben Kingsley. Directed by William Friedkin
With debate continuing about the role of American troops in overseas situations such as Kosovo, the new film, "Rules of Engagement," has a current events timeliness to it.
This court-martial drama, directed by William Friedkin, is a movie in which ambiguity would have been an asset.
Samuel L. Jackson plays Col. Terry Childers a Marine veteran sent with a detachment of men to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen to evacuate its personnel.
The embassy is under siege with crowds throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the compound, while snipers are firing into the buildings.
After three of Childers’ men are killed, he orders his men to fire — not at the snipers — but into the crowd because he claims he sees them brandishing weapons and firing up at his men. In the ensuing action, 83 civilians, including old men, women and children, are killed by the Marines and more than 100 people are wounded.
Public outcry calls for Childers’ head and the U.S. government decides to make him the sacrificial lamb and court-martial him.
Childers chooses as his counsel Col. Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), a longtime friend. The two served together in Vietnam and Childers saved Hodges life.
Hodges, who has had drinking problems as well as other personal woes, admits he is not a very good lawyer and urges his friend to get someone else to defend him.
But Childers is adamant, and Hodges accepts the assignment.
The interplay between the two veterans makes for compelling drama.
Where "Rules of Engagement" fails is in the script, which employs the tired device of a smarmy government official — the head of the National Security Council played by Bruce Greenwood — who has a tape showing the demonstrators with weapons. It's the old government coverup scam, which has become a tired cliche.
The tape would exonerate Childers, but not help the United States in the world court of public opinion, so he has it destroyed.
"Rules of Engagement" would have been a much better and more thoughtful drama if the entire tape subplot had been eliminated or if we were not shown scenes of the protesters firing their weapons.
This is one movie that would have benefited from making the audience decide if Childers took the correct course of action.
The outcome of the court-martial is diluted because of the tape plot device.
However, the strong performances by Jackson and Jones are the movie’s main asset. The two actors exude charisma and are fun to watch.
Jackson, ramrod straight, his eyes blazing is all semper fi, while Jones is more subdued and vulnerable as the physically and mentally wounded veteran.
Guy Pearce, best remembered from "L.A. Confidential," is the firebrand Marine prosecutor out to convict Childers. The Australian Pearce has adopted an accent that makes him sound a bit like Matt Damon.
"Rules of Engagement" is a flawed picture. There are a few slow spots; it could have used some tighter editing.
At a little over two hours, the movie drags a bit. Among the film’s other shortcomings is Friedkin’s obsession with squibs.
Mostly everyone who takes a bullet does so in slow-mo as blood erupts in a cascade of spurting red.
It’s an unnecessary cliché from the 1970s.
The movie, though, is entertaining and thoughtful. It could have used a bit more backbone, which would have made it an even better drama.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. A member of the Online Film Critics Society, he can be reached at [email protected] or at [email protected].
For more reviews by Bob Bloom, go to www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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