poorly written screenplay

Rating: Null/10 (17 April 2000)

This portrait of a Marine commander who, in extreme combat situations, is inexorably forced into extreme responses is uninteresting and poorly constructed. Very little about the movie plot seems credible or engrossing. The relationship at the center of the movie, between Samuel L. Jackson's character and Tommy Lee Jones' character, strikes few sparks and Tommy Lee Jones' struggle with self-doubt is dull and canned. The flag waving sentiments are set up in such a shallow and caricatured way that they are unlikely to elicit much of a patriotic response in US viewers. The courtroom drama is not particularly captivating. The portrayal of the US government's response to events comes across as a most tired cliche. In short, there is nothing about this movie that stands out or could hold one's interest for very long. The whole movie, just like many individual scenes, is gratuitous.