| Rules of Engagement |
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| 1/2 |
| Rating: Mediocre Distributor: Paramount Pictures Release Date: April 7th, 2000 Running Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes Genre: Drama MPAA rating: R Director: William Friedkin Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, Guy Pearce, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Kingsley, Blair Underwood, Anne Archer, and Philip Baker Hall. |
| Plot: A seasoned military officer Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) commits a fatal mistake under pressure when an American embassy in Yemen is attacked. He killed what seems to be innocent victims, but he believes otherwise. We do to, as we see Bruce Greenwood's government official character burning a tape that shows that the crowd definately has guns. Terry hires his friend that he saved the life of in Vietnam 28 years prior Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) to defend him. Childers thinks although Hodges is a poor lawyer he can understand his plight because he was on the battlefield for a fairly long period of time. They fight together against not only the prosecution, but the media, and the angry Yemen citizens. |
| Critique: Rules of Engagement started off poorly, but gained some steam, only to finish very poorly. It began with cliched, melodramatic scenes, including some really bad chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson, and Tommy Lee Jones. However, it looked alright when it supplied some early courtroom drama, until it died. It fell faster than any other film this year. The ending was incredibally weak, leaving many plot holes in its midst. It is sad too because Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones and William Friedkin are obviously very talented and could have produced a better picture. The film also shared an extraordinary amount of scenes from other courtroom dramas and war backflashes. It didn't have anything original to show us. Additionally, Rules of Engagement was muddled, and consisted of quite a few plot holes. A lot of evidence that could have been useful during the courtroom scenes was not exploited, and instead the filim was wrapped up in a happy ending that didn't even add up. I'm not sure I'd even call it an ending, the film just stopped rolling. It's too bad too becuase this film was almost a lukewarm borderline on recommendable film for some steady sequences before tearing itself apart. All and all this film is not worth your time, and I question why I did not have the stomach to be more as it could have been. Although it had its moments it was decimating by some melodramatic trashy segments. by supernothingman |
| picture above from www.rulesmovie.com |
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