In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

as we see the terrible events that unfold before our eyes in the middle east at the moment , hollywood does n't loose the oppertunity to get involved , by telling stories and expressing opinions .
this film centers on a relationship forged throughout the adult lifetimes of two marine colonels , hays hodges ( tommy lee jones ) and terry childers ( samuel l . jackson ) .
they fought side by side in vietnam , where childers saved hodges ' life by shooting an unarmed pow .
that 's against the rules of war but understandable , in this story anyway , under the specific circumstances .
certainly hodges is not complaining .
years pass .
hodges , whose wounds make him unfit for action , gets a law degree and becomes a marine lawyer .
childers , is now a respected and much - decorated hero that has served his country with his life and sould .
because of his excellent record , childers is sent to yemen to rescue the american ambassador ( ben kingsley ) , cowering in the embassy under assault from violent demonstrators and snipers blasting from rooftops .
childers does what he has to do : evacuate the family and protect the men under his command .
after three marines die and the colonel thinks he sees ground fire , he orders his troops to shoot into the firing crowd .
more than 80 yemeni men , women , and children are mowed down .
childers is immediately accused of ordering his men to fire on a crowd and murder of unarmed civilians .
he persuades his old friend hodges to represent him in the courtroom drama that occupies the second half of the film .
did childers violate authorized u . s .
military rules of engagement ?
or are there simply no rules in war ?
the answers to these stereotypical questions are obvious , but the inconsistent plot immediately raises all sorts of other questions .
the murder of 83 " innocent civilians " has to result into something greater than a simple trial in the u . s .
where is the accusations from the arab leaders ?
where is the u . n . ?
the film ends without even telling the most interesting story : what happens on the international arena ?
this film ( in a way akin to films such as " a few good men " ) has already been accused of breaking the rules of morality and ethics and even of racism .
these accusations are pretty heavy , but also unfair .
what director william friedklin truly broke was the rules of decent filmmaking
. one of the earliest apparent problems with ' rules of engagement ' is its lack of credibility .
the entire operation in yemen may remind us about what happens in the middle east right now , but is overdone , contrived and unrealistic - as if a chain of events had to happen in a particular manner in order for the plot to proceed .
a lot of it is so cheesy that no one could possibly accept it as reality .
that is precisely why it 's not offensive .
it is completely unobjective .
many stories are started and never finished .
many questions are asked , but never answered .
a lot of parallels are referring to nothing .
it seems that neither the director , producers or the screenwriter can make up their minds about the contents of their film .
is it about arab mentality ?
america 's foreign policies ?
america 's role in the world ?
corruption in the higher circles ?
it goes on and on .
it consists of countless stories , but not a definable plot .
it tries to be everything for everyone and ends up being nothing for no one .
i think that it is ironic , because director william friedkin 's probably most acclaimed film was " the exorcist " which had a silly story , but became a rather effective film .
in this case you have a strong story with many possibilities and the result is a silly film .
though several scenes bare the mark of professionalism ( such as the impressive battle scenes ) , his latest film does simply not engage .
i believe that friedklin is a director that is absolutely depended on great scripts and talented producers in order to succeed .
it 's obvious that he has neither and the result is therefore a catastrophe .
the characters feel designed , unreal , merely shadows , with no life outside the conflict .
even the actors can not save this film from going under .
though both jackson and jones act admirably , with performances that are as good as you get with a script like this , it is not something that these great actors can boast of .
they have roles that they could play blindfolded with their hand on the back .
jackson is gray and jones uninteresting .
the rest of the cast , including ben kingsly , blair underwood and guy pearce are simply waiting for their paychecks .
the time has come for the verdict .
on the charges of complete lack of objectivity , i find this film guilty .
on the charges of breaking the rules of reasonable filmmaking , i find it guilty .
but on the charges of racism i find this film not guilty , because of it 's inconclusive and often silly plot
that lacks objectivity everywhere , not only when concerning the arab population .
i must admit that the film is dangerously near the line of being racially offensive and i do think that screenwriter stephen gaghan went a bit too far , portraying the yemeni people almost as stereotypical hollywood bad - guys .
this is very sad , since in a time like this it is crucial to not lose objectivity and proclaim the truth .
however , it is absolutely necessary to remember that the muslim terrorists are responsible for most of the terrorist activity in and outside the united states .
and that it 's not a coincidence that u . s .
residents in the middle east , including yemen are on constant maximum alert .
N

susan granger 's review of " the watcher " ( universal ) just what we need : another lurid , trashy serial killer saga .
this time , keanu reeves plays an elusive homicidal maniac who engages in a gruesome ticking - clock cat - and - mouse game with james spader , a burnt - out fbi agent who has suffered a traumatic nervous breakdown after too many years on the job with the lapd .
to taunt spader , who has relocated to chicago , reeves packs up his trusty piano wire and moves too .
before long , he starts mailing photographs of the lonely , unsuspecting young women who are his intended windy city victims , challenging spader , along with the chicago police department , to stop him within 24 hours before he strikes again .
in the midst of this murderous frenzy , there 's spader 's psychologist , played by marisa tomei , who is even less convincing as a medical professional than jennifer lopez in " the cell .
"
writers david elliot , clay ayers and darcy meyers , along with first - time director joe charbanic ( helmer of music videos for reeves ' band dogstar ) , dwell on the warped thrill of the methodology and the chase , revealing , early on , exactly whodunit since the killer says he and the cop " need each other to give meaning to our lives .
"
plus , as reeves explains , " we 're all stacked right on top of each other , but we do n't notice each other any more .
" after that , it 's all sound effects and tricky camera - work , along with a muddled , discordant soundtrack .
james spader 's acting technique can be described as ' wooden deadpan ' while keanu reeves maintains his perpetually monotone ' dude ' persona which sometimes works , sometimes does n't .
chris ellis , as spader 's self - important colleague , is the only cast member who manages to be convincing .
on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , " the watcher " is an appallingly awful , amateurish 2 .
the real torture is watching it .
N

it stands as a moment one will not soon forget : a giant , green ogre flips through the pages of a cliche fairy tale , narrating it with every bit of dull inspiration that the story holds .
this leads one to believe that this serves as the prologue to shrek , dreamworks ' second computer animated feature , but in a pricelessly hilarious bit of cinema , a page of this tale serves as that ogre 's toilet paper .
from this opening moment , one can infer shrek 's defying of all expectations regarding it as a standard , disney - esque fairy tale .
although rampant moments of hilarity dot shrek , the true charm of the film lies in the bold elements of friendship , courage , and acceptance , excelled by outstanding direction , stunning actor voice work , and most importantly , a witty screenplay with more going on than meets the eye .
while shrek features an abundance of humor related directly toward adults , positive friendship values aimed at younger children fulfill the storyline : shrek , the previously mentioned ogre , holds a position of absolute nothingness within his community .
the jolly green giant meets a fellow outsider , known only as the donkey ( his species ) who talks , and although he remains reluctant to warm up to him for a good portion of time , shrek eventually comes to a mutual understanding with him by acknowledging their common state as outcasts of the world .
the pair team up to retrieve princess fiona from a castle guarded by a dragon for the powerful lord farquaad , learning quite a bit about each other and themselves along the way .
their friendship exhibits the core theme of the need for someone to lean on , exemplifying to any child who may witness the film that acting as an honest companion can unquestionably affect someone .
shrek and donkey endure as supposed freaks of nature due only to their differences from others but cling to each other for support and guidance along their journey .
courage demonstrates itself within two major storylines : along the journey to rescue fiona , donkey 's immeasurable cowardice reveals itself . whether he encounters walking over a shaky bridge or living alone , donkey withholds fears that he continuously puts aside without self - acknowledgment .
but the yapping donkey must face his phobias when presented with the giant , fire - breathing dragon guarding fiona ; either he dies from terror or he triumphs with courage .
he wisely chooses courage by pretending as if no dangerous situation actually faces him , allowing the donkey to overcome a horror that likely only continued due to his insistence of them .
secondly , upon shrek 's and donkey 's redeeming of princess fiona , the ogre finds the princess has plans for whomever saves her : to satisfy her desire for a ( human ) knight in shining armor .
throughout this storyline , shrek faces his deep , perpetual misgivings of inhering as an ogre and struggles to determine how he will reveal his true identity to fiona .
an ongoing struggle occurs between himself and his reluctance of the truth , but eventually , shrek courageously conquers his fear by telling the forbidden secret to fiona .
children can realize from donkey and shrek that fear remains only as complicated as one makes it ; if one sets his / her mind to overcoming something in particular , endless possibilities exist .
after the friendships and courage prevail , the three central characters at the heart of shrek must take one more stretch of development : acceptance .
surprisingly , fiona holds a dark secret of her own : due to a spell cast upon her years ago , she transforms into an ogre by night .
in this storyline , fiona must learn to hold acceptance for herself , and she must realize what beauty truly means : to simply act as one 's self . upon fiona 's learning of shrek 's desire to pursue a relationship with her , fiona , knowing that acceptance of herself serves as the only platform for her love with shrek to work , gives in to her inner demons of self - ridicule and hatred .
any child can pull from fiona 's transformation the meaning of beauty and the meaning of self - acceptance .
on the technical side , shrek triumphs .
directors adam adamson and vicky jenson pace shrek in a consistent and satisfying manner , evenly distributing the lessons learned by the central characters .
these central characters spring to life
thanks to brilliant voice work from mike myers ( shrek ) , eddie murphy ( donkey ) , and cameron diaz ( princess fiona ) .
myers creates his shrek as a lovable and troubled ogre whose green color not only serves as a skin color but perhaps his envy of other , " normal " beings .
murphy succeeds with his donkey through recreating the high - strung persona that so many know the actor to have off screen .
cameron diaz exudes charisma and innocence as fiona , giving the princess / ogre a sense of power that many female characters in animated films lack .
while the direction and voice work certainly elevate shrek , the ultimate factor in the film succeeding lies in the screenplay , written by ted elliott , terry rossio , joe stillman , and roger s .
h .
schulman .
the script never underestimates the intelligence of the viewer , combining the three previously spoken of elements with humor for adults and children alike .
capping it off with a constant tongue - in - cheek feel that pokes fun at classic disney animated features , the fresh and entertaining screenplay delivers .
with shrek , dreamworks executive jeffrey katzenberg has certainly one - upped himself by creating an instant animated classic that will live on for ages to come .
the smaller children will laugh and cheer ; the adults will laugh even harder and leave understanding much that their children did not .
a film that breaks stereotypes and creates a definite standard of its own , shrek can certainly endure as one for the ages .

P