God bless America. And Hollywood, too, while He's at it.
A person need not be too perceptive to figure out from what country "Rules of Engagement," directed by William Friedkin ("The French Connection"), originates. While 86 people die, only three are Americans - and according to "Rules," the other 83 had it coming to them, we learn. The central question for the court - and the audience - is this: Who killed those civilians, and were they civilians at all? No matter how ridiculous or propagandistic it may be, the movie makes a statement that forces you to think, and like a Marine, it doesn't back down.
Today, over half the world views America as Satan, but in our fools' paradise, we'll always be the knights in shining armor. The gallant warrior in this case is Col. Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson), a highly-decorated officer with 32 years of Marine Corps service.
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Childers receives orders to depart to the American embassy in Yemen, where an intense political protest has caused the ambassador to fear for his life. After evacuating the diplomat and his family, the Marines witness escalating violence, and Childers orders his soldiers to open fire on the crowd below.
When the massacre headlines newspapers worldwide, National Security Advisor William Sokal (Bruce Greenwood) realizes that the country must save face. Since Childers gave the order to slaughter innocent women and children, why not offer him up as a sacrificial lamb? One man snapped in the heat of action and broke the rules of engagement. The noble United States can charge him with murder, prosecute him to the full extent of the law and wash its own hands of any wrongdoing. Simple.
Hold on! Wait a minute! You're never going to believe this, but it appears Childers might be innocent. Apparently the Marines were facing a terrorist attack in Yemen and their commander was left with no other choice.
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When the State Department loses a crucial videotape from the embassy, retired Col. Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) has the unenviable task of proving Childers' innocence. A washed up, alcoholic ex-attorney, Hodges agrees to defend the man who heroically saved his life many years earlier in Vietnam.
Childers is a stern, even ferocious commander who openly admits that he killed a P.O.W. to save the lives of his own men in Vietnam. But might that be what we want from our military? Someone is to blame for the countless killings of military conflict, but is it the boys we send overseas? Did the United States send a loyal hero on a very difficult mission and then hang him out to dry when things didn't work out just right?
Stephen Gaghan's script eventually circumvents the tragedy that ignites "Rules," in its defense of the military. One line reflects the double standard at play here: "If a Yemenese killed 83 Americans, they'd give him a one-day trial and lop off his head." They're sent to do a job, and they do it right, because they're the Marines.
Despite its flaws, I must admit I enjoyed sitting through "Rules," but I enjoyed it a lot more when it was entitled "A Few Good Men." For fans of courtroom drama, the trial scenes are some of the best-captured on film this decade.
"Rules" is the kind of movie that makes you go home and seriously entertain discussions about how great this world would be if only Tommy Lee Jones were President.
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