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Behind Enemy Lines

Movie Behind Enemy Lines Director John Moore Producer John Davis Cinematographer Brendan Galvin Cast Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman

By Ad-Lib War is one of the most horrible experiences that mankind ever has to put itself through, yet we keep going to war. Of course, sometimes we go to war to avoid war, and ironic as that sounds, that’s what keeps the peace. Now all sermons aside, this is the basic canvas on which Behind Enemy Lines draws itself out. A good movie on some counts, yet it is another one of those, which when thought of in its entirety, doesn’t stir the soul. The setting is the Bosnian conflict, American forces are peacekeeping the area. One of them is Lt. Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) who is a navy pilot who has tired of just flying reconnaissance trips and has opted out of the navy. This doesn’t go down too well with the Commander of the ship, Admiral Leslie Reigart (Gene Hackman). Reigart doesn’t come in his way though, allowing him to leave but tells Burnett to act as an officer till he leaves. Burnett is then chosen to fly on a reconnaissance mission one day with Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht). On this trip they wander into a no-fly zone after detecting activity in that area and what they see is recorded on a disc. But since they have wandered into enemy territory, they are shot at and also shot down. After parachuting down, Burnett tries to get help but Serb forces track them and kill an already injured Stackhouse. It becomes Burnett’s job to survive and get to an area where he can be rescued. However, that is easier said than done, especially since Admiral Piquet (Joaquim De Almeida) keeps throwing hurdles of a political nature in their path. Burnett ends up going from one part of the land to another trying to rendezvous, when one of the Serb trackers sent to get him catches up with him. Burnett gets a ride with a bunch of local Muslims to the local town of Hac, where they live. Here the Serbs run the town over yet Burnett survives miraculously, but the Serbs project to an already alerted media, that the Muslims have killed him. So the search for Burnett gets momentarily called off. Burnett goes back to the crash site and to his ejected seat, where he reactivates a homing beacon. Now his comrades and Reigart know he is alive, they decide to do away with protocol and go get their man back. After a gun battle, they recover the disc and Burnett. The disc is in fact a record of a mass grave of civilians, which one assumes blows the lid off the Serbs’ secret. Performances are genuinely good from Owen Wilson and he is indeed the star of the show. Gene Hackman is a wasted talent here. Possibly hired to give the movie more marketability. One thing that stands out in the movie is the cinematography. There are many examples of sheer brilliance from air combat to explosions that can make you grip your seat tight. But from a story point of view, Behind Enemy Lines is an absolute dud. The biggest problem is that Burnett’s story is just not worth telling. Sure, we can understand genocide but an American pilot being involved in this fashion just doesn’t cut it. I would give Behind Enemy Lines a 4 out of 10.