2 of 10
Cinematography by Roger Deakins
Denzel Washington
Annette Bening
Bruce Willis
Tony Shalhoub
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| The Siege 2 of 10 |
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| Directed by Edward Zwick Cinematography by Roger Deakins Denzel Washington Annette Bening Bruce Willis Tony Shalhoub |
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| This film is a real mish-mash. It feels like a combination of several stories, none of which really seem to gel. There's the "terrorists loose in New York" story, the "brutal American military oppressing its own people" story, and the ever-confusing "good guys who are all fighting each other" story. All these give the film a much fractured feel, and make it hard to enjoy. But the really big problem is the movie's heavy-handedness. "Quick. We need to have more graphic shots of kids killed by terrorists." Or, "let's get some more shots of the 12 year old Arabian boys in concentration camp compounds in the middle of New York City." Or, "how about a few shots of the all-powerful military commander standing in front of the American flag, and destroying the Constitution." Bleh! Cast wise, Denzel is solid (I am unable to remember him ever being anything less then solid), Annette Benning is a total spastic, Bruce is wooden, and Tony Shalhoub is fabulous, even with the massively clich�d character given to him. But the real villain here is Edward Zwick, who persists in bashing you repeatedly over the head with his absurdly implausible political message. Implausible is OK in sci-fi, but not in something that claims to be a serious, emotional drama. If you can't believe in the situations in which the characters' find themselves, then you can't really get concerned for them, or care about their decisions. But the strangest thing about this weakness in the film is the fact that Zwick also directed Glory. Now Glory, which is a brilliant military film, would seem to have been much more precariously placed in a scenario calling for heavy-handed, politically correct revision. But he somehow avoided it there. Why not here as well? After watching this, I am left to wonder if the story and profoundly courageous message of Glory survived in spite of Zwick, and not because of him. Which is not something I wanted to think. Hopefully, he will return to his earlier style of story-telling. | ||||||