Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Roxy Hart’s had a li’l taste of fame, and now she can’t stop herself. She’s writing in about everything she sees, and thankfully, she sees a lot.
Here’s her take on Brooooooooooooooce and Bellucci in TEARS OF THE SUN, a film that Beaks has seen twice now, but which I’ve yet to check out m’self:
Preparing for my big Oscar moment, whether it's this year or another year, I am Roxy Hart.
I was preparing to write a tantalizing review for TEARS OF THE SUN, but apparently two people chimed in with their reviews a day before mine. I'll try to provide a different insight into the movie without giving away too many spoilers.
In Nigeria, a coup takes place where the army-based Muslims are slaughtering the Christians and their freedom-of-religion loving, freely elected President. It's unfair to call it a civil war because it appears in the movie that the Christians are not fighting back. Realizing that Nigeria has become a hot zone, the U.S. takes a course of action to pull out any Americans and secondary V.I.P.'s (doctors, ministers, and the sort, allied with any Americans) within that area. Dry cleaning his uniform from TOP GUN, Naval Commander Tom Skerritt informs a recently returned crisis management team of Special Operations Naval officers (sorry not sure if they were SEAL's or not, term is never used, so I came up with that strange name) that they need to go back into hostile Nigeria. Their primary objective is to procure, by any means, American, by way of marriage, doctor Monica Bellucci. Their second objective is to procure a priest and two nuns, but only if they choose to come along. After tagging the doctor and the possible nuns and/or priest at desolate Christian missionary, the officers will hike 12 clicks uphill in a jungle to the the LZ for pickup. A specialized Nigerian guerilla army takes chase. This Nigerian army is relentless and can seemingly track them regardless of conditions or fatigue. The mission goes smoothly until Lt. Waters (Bruce Willis) grows a conscience and decides to rescue the indigenous refugees that had tagged along with the good doctor for the 12 click hike. An older woman and the children at the camp go back, via the choppers to the Aircraft carrier instead, leaving Lt. Waters or just L-T, his men (last head count I made was 7 men, I think), the doctor and the rest of the refugees in the hot zone with the guerillas hot on their trail. LT decides to hike to Camaroon where political sovereignty is at hand for everyone. The rest of the movie is about whether this group makes it to Camaroon, why the guerillas are so adamant about catching this particular group and a general statement about human affairs in the world of South African tribal nations.
Writers Alex Lasker (FIREFOX) & Patrick Cirrillo (EXQUISITE TENDERNESS) craft a plausible script. There had been rumors that earlier drafts of this script was actually DIE HARD: DIE HARDEST (or DIE HARD 4). If this is true, the writers and the script doctors have worked extremely hard to rework Willis' character so that any remnants of John McClane are left far behind. Stilted military dialogue serves as story bridges and Bellucci is really the only character allowed to emote in this piece. Of the soldiers under Willis' command, only 3 really stand out. Johnny Messner as Lake (he's the one with the mohawk in the movie), Cole Hauser as Red, and Paul Francis as Doc really stand out. Each three characters represent a different ideaolgy about the movie: Messner's Lake cautions everyone about getting too involved about politics that is not their own, Hauser's Red sits on the fence about the situation, and Francis' Doc only wants nothing to do but help and get involved. Willis gives one of his better dramatic turns, in years. Battle-weary Willis goes through a subtle transformation from drone to human. I believe this was one of the themes in the movie: Can a trained, good soldier make a conscience and strategic political move, that may undermine his country's stance against non-pliance, but reclaim his soul in return? The question is not entirely answered but it is a studio movie, so you can venture how tidy they try to make this. Director Antoine Fuqua (TRAINING DAY, REPLACEMENT KILLERS) brings absolutely nothing new to the table but doesn't spoil the movie, either.
As for the political statement about US involvement in South African tribal affairs... the writers and/or director don't really take a stand as to whether involvement is right or wrong. They try to leave the viewer with that choice. The only problem is the ending counters the rest of the movie and the quote at the end, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke, counters the ending. In the end, a lot of people were scratching their heads wondering if the movie had a stance or not. Obviously, the writers and/or director were trying to drive home the fact that ultimately there is no right/wrong answer, but it still confused many people in attendance. Dirty subplots supplement but don't necessarily move this piece along any better.
I liked the movie, but to match the confusing ideology of the movie, I am not recommending anyone else to see this one. I like military dramas and Bruce Willis. The story was ok. I can see many people not enjoying this one, at all or loving it because of mono-symbolic patriotism of America always doing the right thing (which those people will miss the point entirely if they just take the movie for it's external values).
Until I shoot you another review, I am forever
Roxy Hart
Nice of you to actually namecheck the writers, Roxy. A rare practice in these parts, it seems. Nice review, and keep ‘em coming.
"Moriarty" out.
