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William Friedken's semi-conservative tract on the collision of military necessity and domestic demands, the film has Samuel L. Jackson as a Marine commander who gives the order to fire on a crowd of civilians in Yemen. The massacre becomes a public relations debacle and the National Security Advisor conspires to hang Jackson out to dry in court-martial proceedings. Jackson is defended by his Vietnam-era pal Tommy Lee Jones, and he is prosecuted by a wily yet honorable Guy Pearce (Ed Exley from "L.A. Confidential"). The plot is so slowly-cooked that it plays as non-conformist Hollywood courtroom drama. You expect Friedken to utilize so many shopworn gimmicks (the missing videotape, the testimony of a wife against her ambassador husband), and when he does not bite, before you know it, you are watching a very good "Law and Order." Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of drama to it. While I was thankful to have avoided "You can't handle the truth!" (Jackson delivers a less-contrived version), Friedken is content to let the legal wrangling serve as the guts of his piece. The result is mixed. Grade: B-.
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