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BEHIND ENEMY LINES Send This Review to a Friend
An old-fashioned action war movie, some of it believable, some not, "Behind Enemy Lines" is getting a timely release. With the country on edge following results in Afghanistan, the action involving the U.S. military, the Serbs and fighting in Bosnia taps into the kind of behind-the-scenes stuff that makes one think of what is happening elsewhere now. Various buttons are pressed to keep an audience involved, and there is always the solid presence of Gene Hackman as Admiral Reigart, who commands a unit charged with keeping tabs on the situation while negotiators try to work out a peace settlement.
The script by David Veloz and Zak Penn is an intelligent one that provides a dose of political background as well as the required fireworks. The trouble starts when Owen Wilson as Lieutenant Chris Burnett, a jet navigator, finally gets a mission after he has a face-off with the admiral, who is furious at Burnett's intention to leave the Navy as soon as his time is up. We can immediately predict plenty of action ahead, which happens when Burnett and his pilot do reconnaissance over an off-limits area and their plane is shot down after trying to outmaneuver a barrage of Serb missiles. His buddy shot in cold blood, Burnett is on the run and a vicious manhunt begins.
Admiral Reigart is prevented from going to the rescue because of political calculations laid down by his NATO superior Piquet (Joaquim de Almeida), who doesn't want the peace talks endangered. If you know Hackman's acting, you can visualize how skillfully his expressions reveal his frustration and anger at not being able to rescue one of his men. The movie settles into a hunt by the villains who try to find and kill Burnett, while he attempts to survive and can't figure out why he isn't getting help. He also wants to rescue the photos that have pinpointed a Serb military concentration where it isn't supposed to be, and in his flight he stumbles into a mass grave that reveals atrocities.
Owen Wilson, who plays Burnett, is an actor who flashes plenty of screen charisma and bids to become an increasingly important star. He's well cast here. Less believable than the action sequences are the plot gambits typical of Hollywood action flicks, the sort of predictable heroics one can do without. At least there's no romance thrown in, but we know that a Gene Hackman character like the admiral can take just so much holding down and there'll come a point where he says let's go get our boy, even though it means sacrificing his command.
And does anyone want to bet against Burnettt deciding to stay in the Navy?
That said, there is a rousing aspect to this movie that fits right into the flood of patriotism that is sweeping the country in support of our Afghanistan mission. It is the sort of film they used to make during World War II, only more in tune with the concept of American forces being involved in terrain that is strange to them and in political circumstances that can be more complex than clear.
Other key cast members include David Keith, Gabriel Macht, Olek Krupa, Charles Malik Whitfield, and Vladimir Mashkov. Director John Moore and his production entourage have made the action scenes realistic looking. A 20th Century Fox release.
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