OK movie--nothing new

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2000)

Plotwise this is nothing--the U.S. government covering up terrorism and trying to set up an innocent man to take the fall. The plot has been done before many times. Basically it's a "guy movie"--you know, just for men. There are no female main characters at all and Jones and Jackson have a long fistfight in the middle of the movie---for no reason--just to show how masculine they are! Still this movie is well-directed by William Friedken (especially the battle scenes) and has some good acting. However, Tommy Lee Jones is terrible--he seems to be on remote. The best acting comes from Jackson (even though he has very little to work with) and Guy Pearce. The only thing wrong with Pearce is he tries hard to cover his Australian accent, but he ends up sounding like someone from Brooklyn! So, this is an OK movie but nothing special. The direction and acting held my interest.