Review of Tears of the Sun (2003) by Marshall M — 17 Jun 2014

It would be easier to swallow if this was an adaptation of a soldiers memoir. The fact that this is sheer fiction opens it up to harsher judgement for its failure to express the moral complexities of U.S. military intervention in African politics, its unfaithful depiction of level of severity required by Navy SEALs, and the lack of agency or depth it assigns virtually all of the African characters. That said, I've never been one to let morality, reality, or pathos ruin a good action movie... but sadly the director seems dead set on doing that for me by refusing to revel in the action scenes. He handles the storytelling with all the reverence due to a documentary about war heroes... which this isn't.

The dialogue is uninspired, but usually believable even if the characters themselves are not. The cinematography is adequate for conveying the repetitive jungle scenery. The acting is just adequate as well, aside from Bruce Willis who turns in a performance bordering on excellent. The attempts at conveying the inhumanity of humanity actually seem to be a bit naive. I was expecting the bad guys to do a lot worse than it ever shows them doing. When the bad guys are allowed to do their worst and it isn't as bad as what I expect... the film probably isn't gritty enough. The cliched quote before the credits was as unnecessary as the stock African music they insisted on playing over every establishing shot. Overall, the film manages to maintain tension and keep you invested in the characters for two hours, leaving you with the sense that you've been entertained, drained, and manipulated for little reason.