One Kill (2000)

A divorced female marine officer (Anne Heche) with two small children begins an affair with a senior officer (Sam Shepard) in this fact-based drama. Things turn nasty when she discovers ... See full summary »

Director:

Christopher Menaul

Writer:

Shelley Evans

Stars:

Anne Heche, Sam Shepard, Eric Stoltz

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anne Heche	...	Capt. Mary Jane O'Malley
Sam Shepard	...	Maj. Nelson Gray
Eric Stoltz	...	Capt. Wallker Randall
Kate McNeil	...	Maj. Leslie Nesbitt
Bill MacDonald	...	Col. Sam Doran
Sean Bell	...	Lt. Tim Macy
Carl Marotte	...	Hap O'Malley
Max Morrow	...	Harry O'Malley
Charlotte Arnold	...	Callie O'Malley
Joel S. Keller	...	O'Connell (as Joel Keller)
Philip Akin	...	Gunnery Sgt. Finch
Awaovieyi Agie	...	Landry
Nicolas Van Burek	...	Henderson (as Nicholas VanBurek)
Christian Potenza	...	Parker
Steve Boyle	...	Forbes

Storyline

A divorced female marine officer (Anne Heche) with two small children begins an affair with a senior officer (Sam Shepard) in this fact-based drama. Things turn nasty when she discovers that he is married. She tells him it is over, but he won't accept her ultimatum. Pledging to divorce his wife, he tries to force himself on her including an incident where he unloaded his weapon in front of a platoon of men at a firing range to get her attention. Finally, he breaks into her house and tries to force himself on her. She pulls a weapon from beneath her pillow and kills him. The movie then moves to the court room proceedings and a cover-up created by base officers who refuse to let their fellow officer's reputation be smudged.

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Plot Keywords:

sergeant

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Taglines:

An affair ends... and a conspiracy begins.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality and brief strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 August 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Code d'honneur

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Showtime Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

It purports to be a true story, and it has the ring of truth

Certainly this film has the ring of truth about it, as it purports to be based on actual occurrences at a Marine base. It deals with the attempted cover-up by the local Marine commander of unacceptable conduct by a Marine major which resulted in his being shot to death by his former girl friend, a Marine captain. The man and woman had been lovers, but the captain attempted to break off the relation when she discovered her boy friend was married. He continued to stalk her, going so far as to fire his side arm in her direction at one time. Finally he broke into her home, attacked her with a knife, and was shot twice with her service pistol and killed. The civilian prosecutor ruled the killing self defense, but the Marines decided to charge the captain with murder. The major, you see, was a decorated hero from Vietnam, and an old friend of the commanding colonel at the Marine base. The captain, too, had made some enemies in her motor pool command, rejecting some male advances in a very butch style.

There is considerable psychological freight motivating and controlling the actions of the principal participants in this drama, which the very capable cast gets across nicely. The director and editor, however, seem determined to obscure the happenings as much as possible with frustrating flashbacks and shifting points of view. You're lucky if you know where you're at most of the time. Bear with them, though; it's a worthwhile story as the captain's court martial trial unfolds, and it seems every man's hand is against her, even her attorney at times.

The verdict? Well, after all, this is rather a suspense story, so you'll have to see for yourself. There is a kind of "pacifist" message folded into the film, but forget about that. Sure, "war is hell", but sometimes it can't be avoided. We'll need those Marines then, even if they aren't always the best champions of fair play internally. As Kipling says in his poem "Tommy Atkins":

"It's Tommy this and Tommy that, And Tommy wait outside. But, it's room for Mr. Atkins, When the troopship's on the tide."