Deeply flawed, but enjoyable nonetheless

Rating: 7/10 (15 February 2005)

CONTAINS ONLY MILD SPOILERS, NOT THE VERDICT: Surprisingly, I did not really know which way the verdict would go at the end of this film. I suppose that if it had been more popular, then everyone would have known.
This film was deeply flawed, yet still enjoyable to watch. There were enormous plot holes, such as the speed of the trial, (nobody has a trial in two weeks from the event, not even in the military), and the fact that no one else was called to testify about the removal of the flag from the embassy, which many of the men saw, which would have completely proved the lies of the ambassador. Although I have no personal knowledge, my understanding of courts-martial was that they usually do not take place in actual courtrooms, but large offices, or wherever there is sufficient space. (See "The Caine Mutiny") Also, the one-legged little girl, while it wasn't stated explicitly, I sort of assumed that they wanted us to think that she was one of the wounded from the embassy, but she had a bare, un-bandaged, totally healed stump. There are more, but you get the idea.
However, in spite of these flaws, the film was carried by the sheer star power of Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, and, to a lesser extent, Ben Kingsley. (Not that Kingsley wasn't just as good, but he often plays unsympathetic characters, probably due to his looks) So even though it was hard to overlook the bad stuff, this film is still worth a look.