lethal weapon meets a few good men; still watchable

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2000)

The film starts strongly with intense combat sequences that shows Director William Friedkin still has cinematic bite. In fact every scene that doesn't take place in America jolts you and almost puts you in the line of fire. The threat of harm at every second is evident, and the energy goes away in almost every scene that takes place on U.S. soil. Tommy Lee Jones gave us vulnerability and openess; a nice contrast to what we would have been stuck with in a typical Hollywood film-a Superman for all occasions. How refreshing. The rest of the cast holds up very well(how nice to see the lovely Anne Archer working again), but is it possible to have anyone more two-dimensional than Bruce Greenwood's villian? All he needs is a mustache to twirl and railroad tracks to tie Sam Jackson down on. I don't really blame Greenwood-I blame the lazy screenwriters. The courtroom scenes seem fresh-if you've never seen A Few Good Men, The Caine Mutiny or ANY other film or tv show that had a courtroom in it. And as for the way the Jones-Jackson relationship was written-any comparison to the Lethal Weapon series or The Last Boy Scout et. all, is purely coincedental. YEAH RIGHT! In the end, you care about the people,just don't think to hard. God knows the writers didn't. For a lazy afternoon, you can still get something out of it.