|
THE SIEGE Send This Review to a Friend
The events in director Edward Zwick's "The Siege" seem all too plausible. Not the personal stories, which are the usual Hollywood hokum. What's frightening is the possibility, in light of the Trade Center bombing, that terrorists could blow up a New York bus, a Broadway theater and the federal building housing the F.B.I., and pose even more threats. It's also feasible that such events could trigger a panicky roundup of Arab-Americans, not unlike the roundup of Japanese during World War II.
Would the Army arrive under a Presidential martial law order? Perhaps. "The Siege" raises provocative questions, such as how much loss of civil liberties, if any, should be condoned in an emergency?
But the screenplay by Lawrence Wright, Menno Meyjes and Zwick then mires the issues in typically unlikely personal and plot gyrations. We encounter the hot shot, committed F.B. I. officer (Denzel Washington), the competing C.I.A. woman (Annette Bening), who sleeps with her Arab informant and suspected terrorist, and the loose cannon of a military leader (Bruce Willis) who heads the occupation of New York.
The requisite action trimmings are there, but it's hard to take seriously a film with so much unlikely posturing despite forceful performances. Arab-American organizations are reportedly upset, but the screenplay does insist on the difference between terrorists and loyal citizens. Yet there's no denying some prejudice may rub off. This film is hardly worth it. A 20th Century-Fox release.
|