Beyond Reasonable Belief

Film: Behind Enemy Lines
Certificate: 15
Duration: 101 mins
Year of Release: year
Genre: Action, War, Drama, Thriller
Director(s): John Moore
Writer(s): Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Cast: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield, David Keith, Olek Krupa, Joaquim de Almeida, Vladimir Mashkov, Eyal Podell, Geoffrey Pierson


Having signed up to be a hot shot Navy fighter pilot, Lieutenant Chris Burnett has become disillusioned with his career, as he spends more time policing the Bosnian landscape than seeing any real action. Determined to find a more satisfying career when his tour of duty on the U.S.S. Vinson ends, he is sent on one final reconnaissance mission, with his co-pilot Stackhouse, to photograph the Bosnian landscape. A mundane task until they spot some illegal military action in a supposedly demilitarized zone, which leads to them being blown out of the sky by the illegal force.

Having managed to safely eject from his failing craft, he witnesses his injured co-pilot brutally executed by one of the soldiers and inadvertently draws their attention whilst trying to hide. Stuck in the middle of the Bosnian wilderness, it soon becomes a game of cat and mouse as he is hunted down by the illegal Bosnian army; his only hope is that the Admiral on the U.S.S. Vinson will be able to send in a rescue team to retrieve him.

Before picking up "Behind Enemy Lines" I had heard absolutely nothing about it, but having read the synopsis on the back cover I was expecting a gritty war drama in the same style as "Black Hawk Down". But sadly I was completely let down, as although this is definitely a war drama it is anything but gritty. Instead you have a war drama which spends more time trying to impress with artistic camera techniques and over choreographed action sequences than being gritty and realistic.

The concepts behind the film are actually quite good with the main element focussing on the stranded pilot trying to escape the clutches of an ensuing illegal army. Although not exactly a new plot, it is one which has seemed so far to have escaped the Hollywood trend of using the same storyline in every film until it becomes totallly predictable and unoriginal.

The second element to the storyline focuses on the feelings of the pilot as he has become disillusioned with not seeing any real action. Sadly this element is not used to great effect and although provides reasoning behind some of the actions, in reality it is only used as the set up for the main element. This to me is a shame as I can only imagine that the feelings that the pilot has ring true to the feelings of many service men who, although may hate the atrosity of war, signed up under the illusion that they would see action. I would have loved to have seen this really used to greater effect as it would have provided a greater deal of depth to what is essentially quite a flat film.

One of the main problems with the storyline is that it cannot make up its mind as to what it wans to be. It starts of in quite a light, humourous manner and you couldn't be blamed if you thought it was going to be another "Top Gun" style movie. But it soon dispenses with the majority of the lightness and humour but fails to get really gritty, sort of floating in no mans land making it quite dull and not overly engaging.

The other huge problem is that the action is just completely unrealistic. We have the stranded Lieutenat running in wide open spaces being bombarded with gun fire and missiles from close range but never getting hit. Okay, so a little bit of escapism does not hurt anyone, but this borders on the ridiculous. It also does not help when in one scene we watch the Lieutenant jump from underneath a covering of snow to fire at one of the army trackers. Yes it may be dramatic to watch, but it feels more suited to the unbelievability of a "Rambo" movie than one that is trying to be a realistic, gritty drama.

Up until now I have refrained from mentioning any of the stars and that is for a very good reason. In the lead role of this would be realistic, gritty drama we have one of Hollywood's most popular funny men, Owen Wilson as Lieutenant Chris Burnett. Yes that's right, we have reknowned comedy actor taking on a serious role and I have to say it is one of the worst bits of casting I have ever seen. Wilson is just far to nice to effectively carry of the pilot, fighting for his life in a war torn country, he looks to nice, sounds to nice and just does not display any real emotion through the entire film. To be honest, he spends more time looking like a model in a TV commercial than as a serious actor, which is more to do with the direction than his acting ability.

Unfortunately the film predominantly focuses on Wilson's character as also making an appearance is Gene Hackman as his superior, Admiral Reigart. To be honest, although he does not get any decent screen time or any decent dialogue, he puts in a decent performance which saves the film from being absolutely terrible. This is by far not his best performance but he manages to convey real depth to his character as he has to fight beureaucracy before he can even attempt a rescue mission.

Sadly the remaining members of the cast putty in pretty mediocre performances with the worst coming from Joaquim de Amleida as Admiral Reigart's Nato superior. He seems to float in and out of his scenes without any real screen presence and is totally unconvincing as such a powerful man. Also putting in a rather bewildering performance is Vladimir Mashkov as the lead Bosnian tracker searching for Burnett. He is supposed to come over as a ruthless, expert assassin, but he could not hit a barn door at 10 paces, plus he looks more like a weasily drug dealer than an expert killer.

"Behind Enemy Lines" is directed by little known director John Moore, who prior to taking the reins of this $40 million movie had only ever directed TV commercials. This knowledge helps to explain why the film comes across as just one long TV commercial but does not excuse it. The film may be visually impressive with a vast array of camera techniques fom slow motion running straight into snappy freeze frame action and some stunning landscape sequences. But for the majority of the time, the film comes across as just an overlong commercial for the latest pair of Nike trainers, especially as Moore seems to favour shooing Owen's pouting good looks rather than the roughness of the situation.


Well you may have guessed by now that I am not overly impressed with the movie and basically feel that it is wrongly packaged as a gritty war drama where in fact it is more like a bit of action, escapism. It may have a couple of well choreographed action sequences, but for the most this it is a miscast, over stylized attempt at a modern war drama which plays more like a trainer advert than a real film. Although it may appeal to those who like a bit of escapism as well as watching a Hollywood hunk posing on screen, I would not recommend it if you are looking for a serious action, drama.