not quite

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2002)

Jackson is a textbook Marine officer who lives for the Corps, but his distinguished career takes a drastic hit after he leads an embassy raid in Yemen that inadvertently turns into the slaughter of numerous civilians. Held solely responsible and court-martialed, he recruits longtime friend and diffident military lawyer Jones (who recently retired) to defend him. Despite two more than capable leads and a solid supporting cast this courtroom drama is only marginally entertaining; there are some good moments as the film raises interesting questions about the morality of duty and lawful orders in past as well as present warfare, but the film lacks a definitive spark, suffers from dramatic gaps, and has a dishearteningly mediocre finale. Too bad, because the cast alone gave it potential. **½