RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Director William Friedkin brought gritty police work to the screen in his Oscar-winning movie THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Now, after toiling for more than two decades doing second-rate, and even third-rate, work, Friedkin brings gritty Marine drama to life in a powerful movie called RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones, it is a fiery, thrilling work that intelligently explores the moral dilemmas American soldiers sometimes face when they serve their country in tense, often excruciating, combat situations.

The story opens with a violent combat scene set in 1968 in the jungles of Vietnam. Two American platoon leaders, Terry Childers (Jackson) and Hays Hodges (Jones), decide to divide their men into two forces as they trek through a swamp and up a hill. Childers takes the hill with his men while Hodges takes the swamp. The North Vietnamese soldiers, however, decimate the American soldiers in the swamp, leaving a wounded Hodges under intense fire. After taking the hill with his men, Childers tries to force the commanding North Vietnamese officer and his radio man at gunpoint to pull their men back from the swamp in order to save the life of his friend, Hodges. They refuse, so Childers kills the radio man to show the CO that he means business. The CO finally agrees, and Childers promises to let him go.

Thirty years later, Marine Col. Childers congratulates Col. Hodges at his retirement party. Because of his injuries in Vietnam, Hodges became a Marine lawyer, a desk job. After the party, Childers gets an assignment to a Navy ship. Cut to a scene on the ship, where Childers is ordered to beef up security at the American embassy in the country of Yemen in the Middle East. The embassy is under siege from a group of Muslim protestors. When Childers and his men arrive with three helicopters, they find that the embassy is also under sniper fire from rooftops. The scene escalates as Childers is able to finally get the Ambassador, his wife and his son on one of the copters. As he and his troops come under heavier fire, several Marines lie dead, wounded and dying. Childers orders his troops to fire on the protestors, including the women and children in the crowd. The death of many of the protestors stops the combat immediately.

Back in the United States, the scene of 83 dead Yemeni protestors enrages National Security Advisor William Sokal, played by Bruce Greenwood. Sokal orders the military to court martial Childers. Among the charges, murdering innocent civilians. Sokal, however, also deliberately hides a videotape that might show the protestors also were firing at Childers and the Marines. Of course, Childers turns to his old friend, Col. Hodges, to defend him. Arrayed against them are public opinion, the United States government and a very determined military prosecutor, played by another extremely talented actor, Guy Pearce of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

An excellent piece of work, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT deals provocatively with the moral ambiguities of war, the split-second decisions soldiers must make in combat, the character of the people who serve in the United States Armed Forces, and the bonds of friendship that tie one man’s fate to another’s. It leaves several moral questions up to viewers to decide, such as whether it’s really okay to fire upon civilians, even if they are firing back at you and especially if you don’t give them some warning shots over their heads first. Another tricky moral issue is the combat scene set in Vietnam. Although, technically, the North Vietnam CO and his radio officer are POWs when Childers threatens to kill them, they are also still technically combatants because they have the means and the opportunity to order their fellow soldiers to cease fire upon Hodges and his position.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT is also a tailor-made movie for the acting talents of Jones, Jackson and Pearce. All three characters they play are likeable men, despite some very strong foul language in the dialogue. All three actors manage to exude the kind of military bearing that one might imagine such people to project. Director Friedkin has always had a deft hand with his actors, even in some of his mediocre movies. Here, he has the aid of a great script by Stephen Gaghan, who has worked on the award-winning TV dramas THE PRACTICE and NYPD BLUE. Friedkin this time also manages to dazzle viewers once again with his ability to create tense, exciting drama. The only time he falters is in a couple abrupt scenes at the very end that perhaps should have been re-thought.

All of the above elements work together to create a wonderful drama that, even more so than the acclaimed SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, has a strong moral worldview that honors the United States military and the people who serve there. This is a very patriotic American movie that, despite its pro-American flavor, still manages to communicate universal themes that transcend any one country, although some Arab or Muslim groups may still be upset by some of the content in this movie. Regrettably, however, the movie does contain more than 75 strong obscenities and strong profanities and some very violent combat footage. It also avoids any religious content, even though it includes a few very brief references to Islamic religious slogans & Islamic terrorism. Such content requires extreme caution. Even adults who might be attracted to this kind of material will want to exercise discernment before they decide to see it.