The honorable soldier is a familiar cinematic trope. Featuring a laudatory protagonist and ready-made conflict, it's perfect for a Hollywood script. That tradition changed in the '70s and '80s, with post-Vietnam movies like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket. In those films, American soldiers were often portrayed as self-serving, scared of combat, and mentally unstable. The '90s, however, which opened with the Gulf War, have seen Hollywood return to the idea of an admirable military, though not unreservedly. Think of Saving Private Ryan or last year's Three Kings, where the audience was meant to admire America's fighting men, while still distrusting the chain of command.

Rules of Engagement, which opens this Friday, fits squarely into that pattern. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Col. Terry Childers, a career Marine who is put on trial for violating the military's rules of engagement during an embassy evacuation. His lawyer, Col. Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), is another Marine officer who comes out of retirement to help his friend.

The movie begins with a flashback 30 years earlier in Vietnam, where Childers and Hodges are trudging through the swamp on patrol. The two split up and are immediately ambushed. Using the same techniques Spielberg used so well in Private Ryan--quickly moving hand-held cameras, rapid-fire editing, and close-ups that heighten the tension--the ensuing battle is a gripping start to the film, even if it's no surprise that Childers and Hodges both prevail. The opening isn't just a visceral introduction to the lives of soldiers, though, as an important confrontation will play a role in the final trial.

Because of injuries suffered in that war, Hodges is forced to become a Marine lawyer, while Childers rises through the ranks with distinction. The latter's reputation makes him a perfect leader when the American embassy in Yemen is forced to evacuate because of unruly crowds. The evacuation itself is a tour de force of war-movie filmmaking. Clocking in at over 20 minutes, the scene explodes with action as Childers and his squadron land their helicopters outside the compound and then rescue the embassy staff, all the while besieged by sniper fire and brick-throwing crowds.

The climax of the mission occurs when Childers, who has already lost three men, orders his soldiers to fire on the crowd, who are quickly decimated. Suddenly, the noise of guns and screams which had been bombarding us changes to an eerie silence. This contrast is particularly effective in how it implicates the audience in the horror of what's happened. Just a minute before the massacre, I had been wondering why the Americans had not been returning fire. As the battle ended with an awful calm, I understood why. 

Back in the States, the massacre creates a difficult diplomatic situation; the solution, at least according to higher-ups in charge, is to charge Childers with murder for firing on unarmed civilians. The last half of the movie then becomes a courtroom drama as Hodges tries to find evidence that will clear Childers and, when that's not available, uses all of his rhetorical skill.

Fortunately, Rules of Engagement avoids most of the typical courtroom pitfalls. No secret evidence is surprisingly revealed, no witness suddenly steps forward, no villain has a change of heart. All of which is strange, given the opportunities for concealed evidence to emerge or witnesses to change their stories. It's as if screenwriter Stephen Gaghan ("The Practice") decided to abandon all of the traditional ways for resolving this sort of plot. Instead director William Friedkin (French Connection) takes the blistering pace of the battle sequences into the courtroom, which creates a highly effective tension, even if the script's resolution might leave you scratching your head.

Many critics will compare the two main combat scenes to those of Saving Private Ryan, and there are numerous similarities. But an even better connection (no pun intended) is to Friedkin's masterpiece of almost 30 years ago, particularly Gene Hackman's subway chase. The same editing style and camera movement are on display, along with a nearly identical pace and effectiveness. Interestingly, an equivalent link could be made between Saving Private Ryan and The French Connection, a useful reminder that cinema builds on its previous achievements.

Not that Rules of Engagement can live up to either of those ancestors. While those films broke new ground in their respective genres, Rules is content to offer a typical story, well-told. Tommy Lee Jones (Double Jeopardy) and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) give their usual solid performances, investing their military officers with the requisite character and honor. And the supporting players--Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential) as the prosecuting attorney, Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia) as Hodges' father, and Blair Underwood (Set It Off) as a marine captain--are up to the task. Only Bruce Greenwood (Double Jeopardy), as the villainous bureaucrat, can't rise above his material.

Rules of Engagement is an interesting diversion for fans of war movies and courtroom dramas. Like its main characters, it's an honorable addition to the corps. 

J. Robert Parks 04/04/2000