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Before war's meaning changed
[Photos: 20th Century Fox]
Adm. Leslie Reigart (Gene Hackman, second from right) must decide whether to go against orders and try to rescue a downed aviator in Behind Enemy Lines. |
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 29, 2001
Weighed down by a rule-breaking hero and more special effects than patriotism, Behind Enemy Lines is not what it was meant to be before Sept. 11.
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Behind Enemy Lines is where war movies were headed before Sept. 11, with military action used as a casual excuse for just another wisecracking rule breaker. It's impractical to believe audiences can now watch the movie in the mood that was intended. The movie is an instant artifact, a reminder of how callow we became about war until it happened again.
The plot is Top Gun with a purpose made obsolete. The only measure of America's strength when the movie was set and produced was participating in U.N. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia. Now that we have an aggressive agenda in Afghanistan, Behind Enemy Lines seems like a tame military exercise.
Burnett (Owen Wilson) plots his next move, while pursued by countless enemy troops in Behind Enemy Lines.
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Owen Wilson plays "Smoke" Burnett, a cocky navigator passing time aboard an aircraft carrier by using the jet catapult to kick footballs. Burnett has two weeks before resigning for commercial flight pursuits. He's a thorn in the side of Adm. Reigart (Gene Hackman), who assigns the pilot to a simple reconnaissance mission to spoil his holiday feast.
Burnett persuades his pilot, just for kicks, to cruise into a no-fly zone, where they observe a mass burial of murdered civilians. Bosnian troops shoot down the plane and kill the pilot, and Burnett escapes. Reigart feels responsible for putting Burnett in that situation, so he organizes an unofficial rescue operation making up the bulk of the movie.
Behind Enemy Lines does have a few things going for it, starting with Wilson, an actor who seems incapable of false moves even in dull roles. One thing that movies were beginning to get right before Sept. 11 was making action heroes more ordinary, less pumped up. Wilson is strikingly ordinary, with his twice-pinched nose and Midwestern twang. His comic timing comes in handy here, and he runs, ducks and rolls like a pro.
Hackman is the only other actor with any chance to make an impression. He's been through these maneuvers before, saluting war movie cliches in Uncommon Valor and Bat 21. He's a pleasure to watch, even sleepwalking through a role.
Special effects are the only reason most war films existed in recent years. The fireworks in Behind Enemy Lines are praiseworthy, especially the shoot-down sequence when Burnett's jet dodges two heat-seeking missiles. A dash across a minefield is visually impressive and logically insane. But that was the style three months ago.
Behind Enemy Lines may appeal to moviegoers desiring to see U.S. troops kick anyone's butt right now. Yet, for a movie capitalizing on America's renewed patriotism, there is a notable lack of U.S. flags on display. Nobody comments on American values or the kind of bravery Burnett never achieves. Those qualities weren't as important as the bang-bang when the movie was made. Behind Enemy Lines is behind our enemy times.
Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson), an American pilot, and Babic (Kamil Kollarik), a Serbian, race through a forest in Bosnia trying to elude enemy forces in Behind Enemy Lines.
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Behind Enemy Lines
- Grade: C+
- Director: John Moore
- Cast: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Joaquim de Almeida, David Keith
- Screenplay: David Veloz, Zak Penn
- Rating: PG-13; violence, profanity
- Running time: 103 min.
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