Review of Rules of Engagement (2000) by Rommel L — 23 Apr 2012

What will you do if your life or the lives of your love ones/subordinates is in grave danger? Will you run, leave others behind to save your lilly ass? Will you "waste those motherfuckers" if they pose real threat and you have the means of stopping them?

Soldiers and policemen sometimes face these questions in the line of duty. They try to make a decision to survive and save lives only to be court-martialed afterwards, questioned whether it was the right decision, and to be stripped off their positions or their pension or be jailed or worse, be executed! Decades of service down the proverbial drain. Sure, there could be some trigger-happy, blood-thirsty cop out there as there are honest, peace-loving and just-trying-to-do-their-job ones. One false move then they're out. But aren't these muscleheads trained to make sound judgments based on rules they can recite like the lord's prayer? Yes, but then again rational thought is not so handy as bullets wheeze past your nose and shrapnel fly all over the place.

It's hard to be a soldier or a cop in America but it's ten times harder to be one in the Philippines.Your training is laughable. Your firearms are Vietnam War vintage. You get a measly pay. You put your life in danger while preventing what Alex Magno calls as "rabble-rousers" from creating mayhem- only to be indicted by papoging politicos, if not trialed by publicity, for not observing that infamous directive, "maximum tolerance.".

Okay enough with the socio-political commentary coz afterall this is a movie review. I know I watched earlier films similar to Rules of Enagement. I no longer remember the plots but this should be somewhat comparable to A Few Good Men or An Officer and a Gentleman. Anyway, this genre, if I may call it, never fails to captivate me and I won't mind watching a couple of or more in the future. 4 stars to Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson's acting while the same goes to the movie, overall.