William Friedkin directs this military drama. Tommy Lee Jones will play a lawyer who once dreamed of being a career soldier, but whose dreams were dashed when he was wounded in combat. Samuel L. Jackson was the soldier who saved his life, and now needs legal defense against court martial. Ben Kingsley will portray the U.S. ambassador to Yemen, and Anne Archer will play his wife. Guy Pearce, Kim Delaney, Bruce Greenwood, and Philip Baker Hall will also star. Based upon James Webb’s screenplay.
Capsule Review: Two solid leads (Jackson and Jones) are able to redeem Rules of Engagement from a pathetic script. The film is seriously hampered by a cartoonish villain (Greenwood), who seems out of place in the otherwise grounded proceedings. All that’s missing is the moustache for him to twirl. But, if intensity is all you desire, Jackson and Jones deliver, and the film is able to overcome many of its flaws.