Rules of Engagement (2000)

An attorney defends an officer on trial for ordering his troops to fire on civilians after they stormed a U.S. embassy in a third world country.

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Jim Webb (story), Stephen Gaghan (screenplay)

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Guy Pearce

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Col. Hayes 'Hodge' Hodges
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Col. Terry L. Childers
Guy Pearce	...	Maj. Mark Biggs
Ben Kingsley	...	Ambassador Mourain
Bruce Greenwood	...	National Security Advisor Bill Sokal
Anne Archer	...	Mrs. Mourain
Blair Underwood	...	Capt. Lee
Philip Baker Hall	...	Gen. H. Lawrence Hodges
Dale Dye	...	Gen. Perry
Amidou	...	Dr. Ahmar
Mark Feuerstein	...	Tom Chandler
Richard McGonagle	...	Judge Col. E. Warner
Baoan Coleman	...	Col. Binh Le Cao
Nicky Katt	...	Hayes Hodges III
Ryan Hurst	...	Capt. Hustings

Storyline

Hayes Hodges finds his career aspirations dashed when he's wounded in Vietnam combat. He then returns to America and becomes a disillusioned lawyer who goes up against the service to defend Colonel Terry Childers, who is accused of inciting an incident that leaves many demonstrators dead. Hodges in no position to decline: Childers heroically saved his life back in Vietnam.

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Plot Keywords:

colonel | marine | embassy | lawyer | trial | 

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Taglines:

A hero should never have to stand alone.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for scenes of war violence, and for language

Details

Country:

USA Canada UK Germany

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

31 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A bevetés szabályai

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£356,655 (UK) (11 August 2000)

Gross:

ESP 116,150,585 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Seven Arts Productions, Munich Film Partners & Company (MFP) ROE Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the beginning of the movie, some Colt M16 VNs can be seen handled by the platoon of soldiers, a few M60 machine guns, a Remington 870 Combat Shotgun, a couple of RPD Machine guns and some AK-47s in the hands of the Vietcong. Later on, the Marines arriving at the Embassy scene carried M16A2s, some carried Minimi M249 Machine Guns, and the Embassy Guards carried Mosberg Shotguns (unsure of the exact type), while the Yemenese carried AKs and SVD Dragunovs and various small arms.

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Goofs

In the scene where Col. Childers is approaching the entry to the base where an angry crowd of protesters and reporters awaits him, his drivers side window is clearly closed. The next second he encounters the crowd the window is suddenly open, proven when one of the protesters spits on his uniform and he gets out of the car grabbing the protester by the collar and slamming him into the car.

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Quotes

Major Mark Biggs: There are rules and Marines are sworn to uphold them.
Colonel Terry L. Childers: I was not going to stand by and see another Marine die just to live by those fucking rules.

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Connections

Referenced in Will & Grace: The Rules of Engagement (2001)

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Soundtracks

"On the Threshold of Liberty"
by Mark Isham
Contains a sample performed by Mark Isham
Courtesy of The Windham Hill Group

User Reviews

Interesting but too simplistic and lacking in courtroom sparks

Years have past since Col Hodges and Col Childers were comrades in combat. Hodges is now retired while Childers is still on active service in the Middle East. When he is called in to help protect and evacuate the US Embassy in the middle of a riot, Childers orders his men to return fire despite not having any definite targets. With a crowd of 80 dead, many women and children, the authorities are forced to go after Childers to have someone to blame. Childers turns to his old friend to help defend him.

With a pair of real heavyweights in lead roles I was quite looking forward to this film. It is quite easy to get into the film as the opening 40 minutes are pretty exciting and shocking in equal measure – it forces you to think where you stand on the action taken by Childers in both past and present. However as the film goes on the moral debate becomes simplified and it is clear where we are being steered, as opposed to being allowed to think things out for ourselves. The `debate' or thoughtful side is lost and we are left with the courtroom drama side of things.

I'm not a big fan of courtroom thrillers as they often rely on unlikely twists at the end and lots of shouting in place of substance. However I do enjoy the odd one if it hangs together and has energy. However, the courtroom scenes here never really get off the ground and surprisingly (given the emotive subject) really lack energy and twists. Even the conclusion of the film is a real damp squid, the verdict is simply delivered, so if you're expecting twists and turns and big revelations forget it. Inexplicably, the film puts up two or three captions over the final shot to tell us more information – for some of these the film would have been much more exciting if it had worked these into the final 20 minutes of the film. To have them as flat words on a screen is pointless (especially since this isn't a true story!).

Jones and Jackson both do good work, as you'd expect for a pair of tough nuts such as they. Jackson has the better character (until the script weakens itself). Pearce is OK in support but the script doesn't give him too much to work with, his side of the case is easy of course, so the film stops him overpowering the court case at the same time as it simplifies it's stance. Support from faces such as Kingsley, Archer, Greenwood and Underwood is OK but in some cases are so brief to be cameos.

Overall this starts well, but it fairs to really involve once the moral debate side of the film is simplified and phased out. The question `what would you do' is rendered null and void with each flashback Jackson has. The courtroom scenes barely fizzle let alone ignite the screen and the film putters to a poor ending that is badly done. Worth seeing with good performances from the leads but still a pretty big disappointment.