Very good military courtroom drama

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2012)

Samuel L Jackson plays an experienced US Marine officer who is in charge of evacuating the US Embassy in the Yemen. When the crowd opens fire and Marines are killed, Jackson orders retaliation. It subsequently appears as if he has opened fire on unarmed civilians, and it is expedient for the government to hang him out to try. He calls upon Tommy Lee Jones (whose life he saved in Vietnam) to defend him, and the stage is set for a courtroom drama.
As courtroom dramas go, this is quite a good one. Jackson and Jones are heavyweights and punch their weight here, aided by Guy Pearce as the prosecution advocate, Ben Kingsley as the Ambassador, and Bruce Greenwood as the duplicitous State Department official who wants a scapegoat in order to safeguard his own position.
The story is good, the performances are good and, apart from one unnecessary and improbable punch up, the film is well presented.
Recommended.