A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Rules of Engagement

Date Viewed: 4/9/00

Details:

Tommy Lee Jones

Samuel L. Jackson

Ben Kingsley

Anne Archer

Blair Underwood

Mark Feuerstein

Conrad Bachmann

Director: William Friedkin

Score: 1/2

The Review: Part military tribunal (think The Caine Mutiny but not quite as powerful), part conspiratorial cover-up (not quite the caliber of All the President's Men, either for intricacy or acting, but it does keep you guessing), part combat soldiers under provocation. American troops guarding an overseas embassy, defending the ordered retreat of the ambassador's family and embassy's closing under hostile attentions, are put in a situation where they must fire upon a crowd, then must justify it in a court martial after causing an international incident. Good performances by, and interesting chemistry between, Jones and Jackson are the only things that redeem this movie from the mire of equivocation. From the erratic director of The French Connection (1971) and Rampage (1992), this falls closer to the latter than the former.

Originally a "+", but after the passage of time this cannot compare directly with other "+"s from 2000, so I have downgraded my score to "1/2".

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