"Rules of Engagement"

Rules of Engagement (2000)
Directed by William Friedkin

I love the movie The Exorcist. It is, along with Silence of the Lambs, one of my favorite movies. Before The Exorcist Friedkin made The French Connection and went on to make To Live and Die in LA, The Guardian, Jade, and the amazing movie Bug. RoE is nearly as good as The Exorcist and showcases all his skills as a director.

I first saw this movie at a theatre in Greenfield, MA. A little more than halfway through there was a problem with the projector and everyone had to come back later that night. I couldn't wait to see how it all turned out.

Here's a summary:
The film starts with Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson playing two Marines in Vietnam in 1968. Jackson saves Jones's life by killing a prisoner of war.

Moving ahead, Jackson is sent to Yeman to evacuate the American embassy from violent protesters and after he orders his troops to fire on the protesters- 83 are killed- he is put on trial for murder. He asks Jones to defend him and Jones agrees.

I could say more but I don't want to give anything away. I will say this: the moments on the rooftop of the embassy are unbelievably tense and scary. It's probably the most thrilling movie moment I can think of. It all plays out so perfectly.

Towards the end of the movie that scene is matched when Jackson is being questioned by the prosecutor. Again, Jackson gives a brutal performance; there couldn't be a Rules of Engagement without him.

I used to have the DVD and when I did I watched it with the director commentary on and I'll always remember what Friedkin said- he doesn't believe that anyone is ever justified in taking anyone's life, ever.

Sure I like the idea, and I'm sure he believes it. It's just interesting in light of the embassy scenes. There's such a build-up, and, watching it you can't wait for the Marines to open fire. When they finally do it's a huge pay-off. there may be women & children in the crowd but you don't care. And I get the feeling that anyone watching the movie- no matter how much of a pacifist they are- would have that same feeling.

It was called one of the racist movies ever made, back in 2000. Interestingly, during a coutroom scene Jones plays one of the many propaganda tapes he finds in Yeman. The voice on the tape is Osama bin Laden.

AS a sidenote, I'm obbsessed with the TV show "The West Wing", at least the first 4 seasons, when Aaron Sorkin was writing it. I like that he wrote nearly every word those characters said. Anyway, sometimes I'll watcha movie that has a WW actor in and I'll wonder if Sorkin watched that movie too and the actor caught his eye there. The girl who played Zoe Bartlett was in Girl, Interupted first. The guy who played Josh was in one of the Young Guns movies with Martin Sheen's son Emilio. And in RoE the guy who plays Jones's assistant later played Donna's Republican boyfriend on "The West Wing". Since Sorkin wrote A Few Good Men I'm sure he would've gone to see Rules of Engagement since they're so similar in subject matter.

Tommy Lee Jones worked with Friedkin on his next movie, the excellent The Hunted. You should check that out too.