Rules of Engagement (2000, DVD)

Rules of Engagement is about an incident which took place in Yemen. The American diplomatic building was under attack and a large crowd of angry protesters stood on the ground throwing rocks and yelling. The American diplomat (Ben Kingsley) and his family are hiding inside, fearful of their life.

A group of marines, led by Samuel L. Jackson, arrive on the scene to get the diplomat and his family into a helicopter and out of harm's way. Jackson's men take a lot of fire and 4 of them are killed. At the last minute, Jackson notices something about the crowd and gives the order to fire upon them. The crowd is full of men, young and old, as well as women and children. A soldier protests and the order is repeated. 83 people are killed and over 100 wounded.

Was the crowd of protesters hostile? Were they armed? Were the American marines fired upon first? These are the questioned posed by the State Department at a court martial hearing for Jackson.

The problem here is that there was more to the incident than the public or many other people, beyond a select few high-ranking military officials, know about. It would be much easier to blame this act on one man and let him take the fall, than it would to implicate those who are really responsible.

Tommy Lee Jones plays the friend of Jackson and represents him during the trial. Both men served together in Viet Nam and Jackson saved Lee's life in a battle in Nam. After being wounded, Lee went on to get a degree in law and become a lawyer, so Jackson asks him, as a friend, to represent him.

The trial is rushed and Jones takes a plane to Yemen in order to gather more evidence and see if he can find anything that may have been overlooked. Upon arrival, he finds that the people there are not too happy to see an American, especially after what had just happened.

The first 30 minutes of this movie are full of action and gunfire, and the rest have to do with the legal proceedings. I enjoyed the film, and the acting was well-done, but it gave away the truth right in the middle of the movie, so by the end you are waiting for the right people to do the right thing. The element of suspense was practically dissolved, and most moviegoers will know what the outcome would be.

Even so, this is an interesting film and will certainly strike a nerve with war veterans who are displeased with the fact that too many people who run things have never had any combat experience. It's nice to see a movie about the military where the soldiers are not painted as cowards or drug addicts. I think it will do well at the box office.