Graphic Depiction Of A Country In Chaos

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2003)

Based on the true story of the 1993 deployment of U.S. Forces in Somalia, supposedly to keep order, this film is an interesting and very graphic account of what happened in those months that led up to a total U.S. withdrawal from the region. While the movie makes clear that some sort of "policing" force was necessary to try to establish at least a semblance of order in this completely chaotic and starvation-riddled country ruled by rival warlords, it also clearly questions the effectiveness of the U.S. forces, points out the tensions between the U.S forces and the Pakistani U.N. peacekeepers and demonstrates the uncalled for bravado of some of the American soldiers, who seemed to think this was going to be fun. In the end we see a horrific example of urban warfare as U.S. soldiers have to rescue the crew of a Black Hawk helicopter that was shot down. At the same time, one has to admire the commitment of the Americans to ensure that "no one gets left behind" - even those who were killed.
The cast is clearly secondary to the story here. No one was going to win a best actor award because of that. Not that there weren't good performances, but in the end I really didn't think about the actors. The movie is a little slow starting (although in the first five or ten minutes there's a good introduction to the situation in Somalia) but once the action begins it is chilling. As I said, the violence is extremely graphic. This is not a movie to watch with your seven year old. But it is a very good movie.
8/10