"Courage Under Fire" meets "A Few Good Men"

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2004)

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (2000) *** Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, Guy Pearce, Bruce Greenwood, Blair Underwood, Philip Baker Hall, Anne Archer, Ben Kingsley, Nicky Katt, Gordon Clapp. Serviceable military courtroom drama - a cross between `Courage Under Fire' meets `A Few Good Men' - involving heroic Marine colonel Jackson facing murder and court martial charges after his dispatchment to escort the US Ambassador of Yemen from a hostile civilian protest leading to the aforementioned allegations and forcing him to curry a favor from fellow comrade in arms Marine lawyer colonel Jones whom Jackson saved in Vietnam. Predictable yet lively thanks to the top-notch teaming of stalwart Jackson and no-nonsense granite-faced Jones overlook some of the gaping holes in Stephen Gaghan's screenplay adaptation of a story by James Webb. (Dir: William Friedkin)