Rules of Engagement

December 10, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 123 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Rules of Engagement is a pretty darn good combination of a war movie and a courtroom drama. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough.

Rules of Engagement

Samuel L Jackson plays Colonel Terry Childers, a marine with a splendid combat record and an apparently excellent leader of men. When ordered into Yemen to possibly evacuate the American Ambassador, the entire mission is summarized as a “baby-sitting” job. Things don’t quite work out that way.

The situation isn’t nearly as peaceful as was reported and when push comes to shove, the Marines start firing. The action scenes are excellent with a real sense of carnage oozing from the screen. My only complaint is that it was hard to understand the dialogue in some parts, but then I suspect it would be hard to hear with bullets flying all around you and people screaming.

The result of this mission is that Colonel Childers is charged with murder among other things and is to stand for trial. Enter Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Hayes Hodges, former comrade to Childers and a soon to be retiring Marine attorney. It’s his task to find out what really happened in Yemen and do his best to keep his friend out of jail.

While there are a few holes in the script and we don’t get to see everything happen that we would have liked too, the movie was still quite enjoyable and I have no problem recommending it. Obviously, since I gave it 4 stars.

Posted by John | Filed Under 4 Stars, Drama, Guy Pearce, John Speredakos, Mark Feuerstein, R, Samuel L Jackson, Theatrical, Tommy Lee Jones