Rated R for strong war violence, some brutality and language.

121 min

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke

Synopsis

An elite squad of United States Marines are sent to a small missionary village to evacuate a Priest, two Nuns, and an American doctor when word is sent that the village will soon be overwhelmed by the Rebel Army of Nigeria.  When the team arrives to evacuate the Americans, things don’t go according to the Mission plan.  The doctor refuses to leave without her people, so the soldiers escort those who are healthy enough to walk at a reasonable pace away from the village, knowing full well they are jeopardizing their mission.  When they make it to the evacuation point, the Marine in charge, Lt. A.K. Waters instructs his men to only take the Doctor with him.  She fights but they force her into the chopper.  On their way to safety they pass the Missionary and it’s completely destroyed with dead bodies everywhere.  Something inside Waters changes and he orders the choppers to take them back.  He and his men fill the choppers with the elderly and children and promise to escort the doctor and the rest of the refugees to a nearby city that is protected from the Rebel Army.  What Waters and his men don’t know is they are being tracked by the Rebels who are searching for something the Refugees have.  Their simple mission suddenly becomes a significant and perilous one.

Review

This film was directed by Antoine Fuqua immediately after his brilliant creation of “Training Day”.  Five years later I’ve finally managed to get around to seeing it, and I must say there is gifted film making in this highly underrated War movie.  Sure, there was plenty of action, violence, and suspense, but the real genius of the way this story was told was through the eyes of the soldiers, not the frightened refugees. 

What was most compelling about the story was posing the question, what would happen if a soldier didn’t follow his orders?  What would happen if we didn’t all obey the laws our countries and other countries have set for us and just go and do what’s right, instead of what we are instructed to do?  It becomes a question of morals instead of rules and orders.  The quote by Edmund Burke at the finish of the film confirms this feeling.  The ideals of it are morally in the right, but unfortunately a situation like this would never fly in the real world.  If the viewer can suffer that component of suspension of disbelief, then they may very well appreciate this film. 

Obviously, a situation like this only turns out like it does in fiction, and how often men actually disobey orders, I would imagine is few and far between.  It doesn’t matter though.  It’s a brilliant piece of fiction that tells it’s story and makes an important ideological point without preaching it.  So far I’m pretty impressed with Antoine’s work.  He has a very keen insight into the dark nature of man.

There are two negative points that I couldn’t overlook and stopped it from being a sold three or four star movie.  The first was the relationship between the doctor and Water’s.  It was just weird and awkward.  However, the ending is the worst part.  Once they had the pinkie square moment in the jungle and it turned into a Rambo movie, it really lost my viewing interest, but up to that point the film was very compelling and visually stimulating.

Cast

• Bruce Willis as Lt. A.K. Waters
• Monica Belluci as Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks
• Cole Hauser as James “Red” Atkins
• Eammon Walker as Ellis “Zee” Pettigrew
• Johnny Messner as Kelly Lake
• Nick Chinlund as Mike “Slo” Slowenski
• Charles Ingram as Demetrius ‘Silk’ Owens
• Paul Francis as Danny “Doc” Kelley
• Tom Skerritt as Captain Bill Rhodes

The cast put on quite a performance.  Water’s men all followed his orders at first, because that’s what soldiers do, except for Water’s of course, but they did not comprehend what he was doing.  He experienced a moment away from the disconnect that I imagine most soldiers have to create in order to make it through the things they have to do.  But what happened with each of them, was they all gradually began to feel away from that disconnect and were able to fully realize the horror’s and atrocities being committed on other human beings.  Each of the actor’s displayed this change in a very authentic way.  My favorite performance was Cole Hauser’s.  He’s always the supporting actor and never the lead, but maybe one of these days he’ll get that lead, but he plays supporting roles so strongly, and this performance as “Red” was one to remember.  It was brute, subtle, and believable.

Ratings and Suggestions

The terror alone of this movie for the people and children of Africa who are suffering these atrocities is enough to make it a difficult movie for anyone to sit through.  The massive slaughters, the raping, and torture is not for those weak for that kind of visual.  Nonetheless, for avid war film junkies or of the like, this movie isn’t about action or blowing things up, though that does eventually happen, the core of this movie has a lot of substance and is saying even more.  It has a few cheesy moments in the acting department, and times when it does feel a bit preachy, but those things are annoying distractions, they don’t steal away from the majority of the film.  In general it’s a very interesting movie that I enjoyed.  I award Tears of the Sun Two and a Half out of Four stars.

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