Film vs. reality

Rating: 6/10 (15 February 2002)

I can hardly believe the ratings this film is getting. You can't say Ridley Scott has made a bad film, but to state that this is a masterpiece...no, the film 's got just too many flaws for that. This is a case where the truth is harrowing, but the film version simply isn't. And the reality behind the film just isn't enough to make it a good film, as one ought to know.
First of all: haven't we seen enough of this sort of American patriotism in films? Yes, these men might be heroes, but the way they're being depicted in BHD simply doesn't seem realistic. Add to that a soundtrack that is simply so inappropriate and pompous at times and you get the feeling that you are actually watching a movie and not something that really happened. Nothing wrong with that...if that's what you're trying to sell it for.
Second, the dialogue, which is simply stupid. Are these guys really the macho types they're being presented as? Do they utter the stupid phrases you get to hear in this film? For their sake: I hope not. This film has got nothing of the intelligence and philosophy that a film like Saving Private Ryan for example did have. The actors too aren't really top-class. No Tom Hanks in this movie. Even Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore (who was in SPR too!) don't offer the performances you'd expect them to deliver. And Sam Shepard hasn't been in too many good movies lately too. Another thing is the storyline, which seems to be missing. The film consists of one long shooting, and that's it. Why not make more out of the obvious despair and fear these soldiers must have experienced? Finally, in the closing scenes, mention is made of the fact that 19 U.S. soldiers were killed...together with over 1,000 Somalis. This is presented as nothing more than a footnote, but there's hardly a sign of a critical approach to the intervention of the U.S., nor do we get any motivations. And can't we say after all that, due to this intervention, which was supposed to be almost bloodless, the U.S. made things even worse? 19 soldiers, yes, but what about the 1,000 Somalis, who are being depicted as savages, who kill each other and anyone who tries to break them up? The facts are pretty actual nowadays, but the situation in Afghanistan (or the attitude of president Bush)clearly shows that nothing is changed after the events in New York. And this film, more macho behaviour than reality, doesn't help much either. I gave this film a "6", but when I think about it, that seems to be far too much for the actual result. As I said, the subject alone isn't nearly enough to make up for the shortcomings in the making of the film. They should've known better...