Another military court room thriller oozing with a headline type story. Sounds awesome or does it?
“Rules of Engagement” tells the story of Col. Terry Childers (Samuel L Jackson) who is faced with murder when he commands a company of marines to open fire on a city square filled with civilians.
To aid him he asks long-time friend and fellow Vietnam vet Col. Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) to defend him.
“Rules of Engagement” brings all the elements for a great story to the first half of the film and it’s a great setup. This is what makes “Rules of Engagement” so disappointing.
The screenwriter is writing his first actual credited screenplay which could be where this film falls finds its ineffective dialogue.
Through the second half, Jones’ character was quoted as saying “we have no evidence to exonerate my client but if we just had that tape maybe we would”. If this is the best line an attorney can come up with then you know this guy’s goose is cooked. As the trial drags on it comes down to last witness.
It’s a great Hollywood setup but as Jones cross examines the witness all he says is “yes” and then within two seconds we have a verdict. It was so infuriating to see something like this die so quickly. When the last two hours have lead to this. And to top it all off wait till you see the final salute that is the sickest of all.
Why could the screenwriter breathe some originality into the final scenes? Why didn’t we see the destruction of politician who set Jackson up? And on what planet did they think Jones had won his case?
Jackson and Jones are bored through most of the film. Jackson is playing a lot of his frustration scenes the exact same way he did in “A Time to Kill” .
If you take away the last 30-35 minutes of this picture you have an interesting film. But my all time favorite quote from the film is “If that Colonel was Yemenis and had shot 83 Americans. There would be no trial. He’d be executed no questions asked.”
(2 out of 5)
So Says the Soothsayer.
How much would you give up for what you believe in?
When it comes Oscar time, I hope that the Academy doesn’t forget the wonderful performance from Rachel Weisz as Tessa. This is probably the best performance of her career and definitely Oscar worthy. She is so biting, determined and possessed with passion in the role. She is brilliant.Constant%20gardener%202_cmyk.jpg "gardener3")
Then you have the richness of the conspiracy, the mystery and the multi-layered elements of the murder.
The coming of age story of a orphan as he becomes faced with conflict between duty and exploration.
By Brooke Stafford
I can’t say that I am huge fan of Johnny Cash or overly familiar with his music. The man is a legend and the new biopic on his life hopes to keep that legend alive.
I was also really impressed with Witherspoon as the feisty, energetic, sexy and strong June Carter who seemed to be the foundation that kept Cash going even when they were fighting.
The film’s running time of almost 3-hours also hurts this bio-pic because we never feel sitting for that amount of time is justified because we never really learn anything new. Well, except for some unseen flaws in the mortality of this great man.
In a nearly 3-hour movie you would thing that there would be more positive to focus on. But really the performances seem to be the only one.
There have been better films made about this legendary man but maybe Mann should have gone to his roots instead of straight to his boxing.
