Lawyers of Jackson

Rules of Engagement

Description

Facing a court martial after the peacekeeping mission he led in Yemen ends in disaster, Col. Terry Childers turns to Hays Hodges, a lawyer whose life he saved in Vietnam.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD

Director William Friedkin knows a thing or two about staging harrowing action sequences, and if you don't believe that, you've never seen The French Connection or To Live and Die in L.A. He comes through niftily in this film as well, with an opening Vietnam battle sequence that sets the stage for the rest of the story, and then with the central moment in the film: a rescue mission involving Marines extricating the American ambassador from an embassy surrounded by hostile protesters in Yemen. Unfortunately, Friedkin can't do much about the implausible plot that follows, in which the Marine commander, played by the always-terrific Samuel L. Jackson, is accused of slaughtering innocent civilians (who actually were shooting at him and his men). He must rely on an old Marine buddy--a lawyer played by Tommy Lee Jones--to get him through the jury-rigged court martial. But the central premise--that an evil presidential aide would perjure himself and destroy evidence simply to maintain good relations with U.S. allies in the Middle East, rather than defending a highly decorated Marine colonel who risked his life--is inevitably hard to swallow. And the ending is even flimsier. --Marshall Fine

Reviews

Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2010-08-29
Summary: "Antisemitic movie"

This movie is worst than Jud Suss!

I don't respect Samuel L. Jackson anymore for this one (I don't give a fig for Tommy Lee Jones, he always sucked).

I can't believe that the director of "The French Connection", "Cruising" & "To Live and Die in L.A." - William Friedkin - is the same director of this crap... Maybe his career is going down the drain and needs the money.

How low Hollywood can go? Well, this stinker proves that deep ain't deeper enough.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-17
Summary: "Must see movie"

If you have ever wondered what our soldiers have to do, to do their jobs and who they have to offend to get it right; this is a must see movie. When you are at war, some say you must follow rules, but when should those rules be broken or who determines if they were broken at all?

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Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2010-05-23
Summary: "First 30 minutes are good, the remainder is horrid"

The first 30 minutes or so of this movie were actually quite entertaining. The battle scenes were quite gripping, in fact. However, the movie's plot is grossly unconvincing.

[mild spoiler alert]

For example, none of the 30 marine's under Childers' command could point out that the crowd was firing? Really? The ambassador just decides to perjure himself, even though his family and other persons could clearly contradict his statements? The list goes on and on.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-01-06
Summary: "Rules of Engagement"

Colonel Terry Childers is a 30-year Marine veteran: a decorated officer with combat experience in Vietnam, Beirut and Desert Storm - a patriot, a hero. But now, the country he served so well has put him on trial for a rescue mission that went terribly wrong. For his attorney, he has chosen Marine Colonel Hays Hodges, a comrade-in-arms who owes his life to Childers. Hodges is not the best lawyer in the service, but Childers trusts him as a brother Marine who knows what it's like to risk death under fire. Bound by duty and friendship, Hodges reluctantly takes the case, even as he begins to doubt the man who saved his life in Vietnam three decades ago. A gripping exploration of the gut wrenching realities of the modern soldier on the battlefield of war and the battlefield of law.

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2009-11-08
Summary: ""People die; sometimes they're innocent but in a war innocent people DIE!""

A contemplative movie in which many questions are asked: Is Yemen a training ground for terrorists? Is Colonel Terry Childers a blood-thirsty murderer?! Or is he a hero defending his soldiers, and complying with the rules of engagement? What are the rules of engagement?

An intriguing story, magnificently performed by a wonderful cast namely; Tommy Lee Jones and Guy Pearce but leaves many unanswered questions about what is just and who decides what is just.

If rules of engagement were obeyed, which assumes we can define rules of engagement that don't tolerate double standards, many war crimes would've never happened. Sadly enough, we are living in a crazy world of double standards and self appointed superior nations that one should doubt the existence of rules of engagements nowadays.