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{{short description|2000 film by William Friedkin}}
{{Other uses|Rules of Engagement (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Rules of Engagement
| name = Rules of Engagement
| image = Rules of Engagement Poster.jpg
| image = Rules of Engagement Poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| alt =
| director = [[William Friedkin]]
| director = [[William Friedkin]]
| producer = [[Scott Rudin]]<br />[[Richard D. Zanuck]]
| producer = [[Scott Rudin]]<br />[[Richard D. Zanuck]]
| screenplay = [[Stephen Gaghan]]
| screenplay = [[Stephen Gaghan]]
| story = [[Jim Webb|James Webb]]
| story = [[Jim Webb|James Webb]]
| starring = [[Samuel L. Jackson]]<br />[[Tommy Lee Jones]]
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tommy Lee Jones]]
* [[Samuel L. Jackson]]
* [[Guy Pearce]]
* [[Bruce Greenwood]]
* [[Blair Underwood]]
* [[Philip Baker Hall]]
* [[Anne Archer]]
* [[Ben Kingsley]]
}}
| music = [[Mark Isham]]
| music = [[Mark Isham]]
| cinematography = [[William A. Fraker]]<br />[[Nicola Pecorini]]
| cinematography = [[William A. Fraker]]<br />[[Nicola Pecorini]]
| editing = Augie Hess
| editing = Augie Hess
| studio = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| studio = Scott Rudin Productions <br />[[Fireworks Entertainment|Seven Arts Pictures]]
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|2000|04|07}}
| released = {{Film date|2000|04|07}}
| runtime = 128 minutes
| runtime = 128 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States <br /> Germany
| language = English
| language = English <br /> Arabic <br /> Vietnamese
| budget = {{nowrap|$60 million}}
| budget = $60 million<ref name="mojo" />
| gross = $71.7 million<ref name="mojo">{{cite web |title=Rules of Engagement |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0160797/ |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=6 September 2020 |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112205700/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0160797/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| gross = {{nowrap|$71.2 million}} (worldwide)
}}
}}
'''''Rules of Engagement''''' is a 2000 American film directed by [[William Friedkin]] and starring [[Tommy Lee Jones]] and [[Samuel L. Jackson]]. Jackson plays Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to [[court-martial]] on charges of disobeying the [[rules of engagement]] in a military incident at an American embassy in [[Sana'a]], Yemen, resulting in the slaughter of many civilians by Childers' men.


'''''Rules of Engagement''''' is a 2000 American [[war film|war]] [[legal drama]] film, directed by [[William Friedkin]], written by [[Stephen Gaghan]], from a story by [[Jim Webb]], and starring [[Tommy Lee Jones]] and [[Samuel L. Jackson]]. Jackson plays [[U.S. Marine]] Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to [[court-martial]] after Marines under his orders kill several civilians outside the U.S. embassy in [[Yemen]].
Screenwriter [[Jim Webb|James Webb]] is a former [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] combat officer, lawyer and [[Secretary of the Navy]]. Webb is currently the senior [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Virginia]].

The movie is entirely fictional, even so especially the end looks like it would be based on a real case.


==Plot==
==Plot==
<!-- Per [[WP:FILMPLOT]], plot summary should be 400-700 words -->
{{plot|date=February 2011}}
In 1968, during the [[Vietnam War]], a disastrous American advance leaves [[U.S. Marine]] Lieutenant Hayes Hodges wounded and his men dead. His fellow platoon leader Lieutenant Terry Childers executes a [[Vietnam People's Army|North Vietnamese prisoner]] to intimidate a captive officer into calling off a mortar attack on Hodges' position; sparing the officer's life, Childers rescues Hodges. In 1996, Hodges, now a colonel, is set to retire after 28 years as a [[Judge Advocate General's Corps|JAG]] officer. At his pre-retirement party at the [[Camp Lejeune]] Officers Club, he is honored by his old friend, Colonel Terry Childers, now the commanding officer of a [[Marine Expeditionary Unit]].
The film opens in the [[Vietnam War]] in 1968, specifically near Ca Lu. A US Marine platoon, led by Lieutenant Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) and Lieutenant Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) are advancing through the jungle and they split up to take two different routes. However, Hodges' group is ambushed by North Vietnamese soldiers and all but Hodges are killed. At the same time, Childers' group captures the leader of the attackers, Colonel Binh Le Cao. Childers orders Colonel Cao to call his men off Hodges and advance. To try and intimidate him, Childers holds a pistol to Cao's unarmed radioman, promising to let them both go free if they cooperate. When Cao refuses to call his men off, Childers executes the radioman and turns the gun on Cao, who immediately radios his men and tells them to advance, leaving Hodges alive. Childers then keeps his word and lets Colonel Cao go.


Childers and his unit are deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an [[Amphibious Readiness Group]], called to evacuate the [[U.S. Ambassador to Yemen]] when a routine anti-American demonstration at the embassy erupts in rock-throwing, [[Molotov cocktail]]s, and gunfire. Escorting Ambassador Mourain and his family safely to a helicopter, Childers retrieves the embassy's American flag. Under heavy fire from snipers on nearby rooftops, three Marines are killed, and Childers orders his men to open fire on the crowd, resulting in the deaths of 83 irregular Yemeni soldiers and civilians, including children; the remaining Marines and embassy staff are saved.
The movie then jumps to 28 years later (1996), where Hodges, now a Colonel and a veteran, although he has been confined to a desk job for the last 28 years due to an injury picked up in Vietnam, is holding a retirement party. As a surprise, the now-Colonel Terry Childers shows up to present Colonel Hodges with a sword of honor. Not long after this, Childers and his platoon are called into action in [[Yemen]], where an unruly crowd of local men, women and children demonstrate outside the U.S. embassy in Sana'a which had been incited by jihad audio tapes and the [[United States Ambassador to Yemen|U.S. Ambassador]] Mourain, his wife and young son need to be evacuated. During the evacuation, 3 Marines are killed by gunmen on the roofs of the buildings overlooking the embassy. After retrieving the U.S. flag and flying Mourain and his family out of the Embassy, Childers returns to aid his marines. A fourth Marine, Sergeant Kresovitch is mortally wounded and dies in Childers' arms. Childers, while peering around his cover, appears to see something in the crowd below. He immediately orders his men to open fire on the crowd, killing 83 men, women and children.


Following this, American relations in the Middle East severely deteriorate, so [[U.S. National Security Advisor]] Bill Sokal pressures the military to [[court-martial]] Childers, hoping to salvage relations by placing all blame for the incident on the colonel. Childers asks Hodges to serve as his defense attorney, and he reluctantly accepts. Hodges rejects a plea deal from the prosecutor, Major Biggs, who is convinced of Childers' guilt but privately refuses to consider the death penalty. With little time to prepare a defense, Hodges goes to Yemen, where witnesses and police claim that the Marines fired first on the unarmed crowd. Visiting the abandoned embassy and some of the wounded, he notices an undamaged security camera and scattered audio cassette tapes.
In the wake of this, the National Security Adviser is worried by the dire consequences that are caused by Childers' actions and decide that he needs to be court-martialed. The legal case that follows depends on whether the crowd was armed and fired first or Colonel Childers exceeded his orders and reacted based on anger, confusion or a darker motive (such as prejudice). According to U.S. military law as explained in the film, Childers could be charged with three offenses: murder for killing 83 "non-combatants" (a crime eligible for life imprisonment or even the death penalty), as well as [[Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman]] (eligible for a [[Military discharge|Dishonorable Discharge]]) and a minor charge of [[Breach of the Peace]]. But if some of them were carrying weapons and opened fire, he could be exonerated. Childers asks Colonel Hays Hodges to be his attorney, against Hodges' advice that he get another lawyer, as he had had an unimpressive career in the Marine Corps's [[United States Marine Corps Judge Advocate Division|JAG Division]]. However, Childers is adamant that Hodges be his attorney rather than a better and more successful one for the principal reason that Hodges has served in combat before, knowing that many other great lawyers have not. Hodges agrees and goes to Yemen, where he finds several audio tapes, which call for a [[jihad]] against the USA. This explains the mob outside the embassy and the shooting. Horrified by what he sees, he confronts Childers and eventually admits that they have a tough case and are unlikely to win.


Returning to the U.S., Hodges confronts Childers about the complete lack of evidence to support his version of events, resulting in a fistfight. Sokal burns a videotape revealing the crowd was armed and fired on the Marines, and forces Mourain to lie on the stand that the crowd was peaceful, and that Childers ignored his orders and was violent and disrespectful to him and his family. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife, who admits Childers acted valiantly but refuses to testify. Captain Lee, who hesitated to follow Childers' order, is unable to testify to having seen gunfire from the crowd. A Yemeni doctor testifies that the tapes Hodges found are propaganda inciting violence against Americans, but declares the protest was peaceful.
The prosecution asserts that Childers' order to fire was based on personal fear, racism, or confusion. The [[National Security Advisor]], William "Bill" Sokal, wants Childers to be convicted in order to preserve U.S. relations with Arab countries; when he receives a CCTV security videotape that confirms that shots had indeed been fired by the crowd, he burns the tape with the hope that the prosecution will win. The defense and Childers respond that he was in fear for his Marines' lives under fire and was in compliance with his orders and the rules of engagement. Childers testifies that he was on the roof and could clearly see that the crowd had weapons; Sergeant Kresovitch – who also had an observational position – was killed on site and therefore, Childers is the only one who can testify as to the intentions of the crowd. Ambassador Mourain (earlier blackmailed into co-operating by Sokal) lies on the stand and says the crowd was peacefully demonstrating and that Childers had acted violently towards him during the evacuation; his wife later admits the truth to Hodges but won't testify in contradiction to her husband. The prosecution introduces previous actions by then-Lieutenant Childers in Vietnam to show a history of misconduct, including a witness – Colonel Binh Le Cao, the very man Childers had captured and released in Vietnam.


With Sokal on the stand, Hodges presents a shipping manifest proving that the tape from the undamaged camera – the tape Sokal burned – was delivered to Sokal's office but disappeared, with footage that would likely have exonerated Childers. Taking the stand, Childers explains that he was the only surviving Marine able to see the crowd was armed. On cross-examination, Biggs goads Childers into admitting that he ordered his men to open fire by shouting "waste the motherfuckers". Childers loses his temper, declaring that he would not sacrifice the lives of his men to appease the likes of Biggs, to Hodges' dismay.
During the testimony of Colonel Cao, he recounts how Childers had threatened him with death in order to save his Marines, and executed his unarmed radioman. Nevertheless, the foreign officer admits that, if placed in the same situation, he would have done the same thing. Hodges also presents the jury with a shipping manifest showing that a camera film from an undamaged camera that had exactly the same point of view as Childers, which could have exonerated Childers, had been delivered to Sokal's office, but has not shown up. This refutes all of the prosecution's claims that the tapes had been stolen, or did not exist, and appears to be a potential turning point in the trial. Similarly, Hodges plays the audiotapes calling for a jihad against America and a witness's testimony proving that these were what caused the protest, and not the protest over US placement of ships in the Gulf of Aden, as the prosecution had originally claimed. Ultimately, Colonel Childers is found guilty of the minor charge of Breach of the Peace, but not guilty of the more serious charges of Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman and murder. In an effort to save face, the attorney of the prosecution, Major Mark Biggs, tries to get Hodges to recount what he remembered about the incident in Vietnam to pursue this against Childers. However, Hodges responds by reminding the Major of his lack of experience in combat and that the average life expectancy of a marine dropped into a hot LZ was not two weeks, as Biggs had thought, but rather "16 minutes". As Childers steps outside the courthouse, Colonel Cao, before getting in to a car, salutes him, and Childers salutes back. A postscript title card says that William Sokal was charged and found guilty of [[Spoliation of evidence|destruction of evidence]], forcing him to resign from his post; that Ambassador Mourain was found guilty of [[perjury]] and sacked; and that no further charges were pursued against Childers and he retired honorably from the Marines.

The prosecution presents Colonel Binh Le Cao, the Vietnamese officer whose life he spared, as a rebuttal witness, testifying that Childers executed an unarmed prisoner of war. During Hodges' cross-examination, Cao agrees that Childers took action to save American lives, and that if circumstances were reversed, Cao would have done the same. After the trial, Hodges confronts Sokal about the missing tape, vowing to uncover the truth. Childers is found guilty of the minor charge of [[breach of peace]], but cleared of [[conduct unbecoming an officer]], and murder; Biggs approaches Hodges about investigating Childers' actions in Vietnam, but Hodges declines to testify. Leaving the courthouse, Cao and Childers salute each other.

An epilogue reveals that Sokal was found guilty of [[spoliation of evidence|destroying evidence]] and Mourain of [[perjury]], both losing their jobs, while Childers [[military discharge|retired honorably]].


==Cast==
==Cast==
<!--- Cast and order per closing tombstone credits, roles per closing credits scroll --->
*[[Tommy Lee Jones]] as Col. Hayes Lawrence "Hodge" Hodges II
{{Cast listing|
*[[Samuel L. Jackson]] as Col. Terry L. Childers
*[[Guy Pearce]] as Maj. Mark Biggs
* [[Tommy Lee Jones]] as Colonel Hayes Hodges
*[[Ben Kingsley]] as Ambassador Mourain
* [[Samuel L. Jackson]] as Colonel Terry L. Childers
* [[Guy Pearce]] as Major Mark Biggs
*[[Bruce Greenwood]] as US National Security Advisor Bill Sokal
*[[Anne Archer]] as Mrs. Mourain
* [[Bruce Greenwood]] as Bill Sokal
*[[Blair Underwood]] as Capt. Lee
* [[Blair Underwood]] as Captain Lee
*[[Philip Baker Hall]] as Gen. Hayes Lawrence Hodges, Ret.
* [[Philip Baker Hall]] as General H. Lawrence Hodges
*[[Dale Dye]] as Maj. Gen. Perry
* [[Nicky Katt]] as Hayes Lawrence Hodges III
*[[Mark Feuerstein]] as Tom Chandler
* [[Dale Dye]] as Major General Perry
*[[Richard McGonagle]] as Judge Col. E. Warner
* [[Mark Feuerstein]] as Captain Tom Chandler
*[[Baoan Coleman]] as Col. Binh Le Cao
* [[Amidou]] as Doctor Ahmar
*[[Nicky Katt]] as Hayes Lawrence Hodges III
* [[Richard McGonagle]] as the judge
* [[Ryan Hurst]] as Captain Hustings
* [[Gordon Clapp]] as Harris
* [[Anne Archer]] as Mrs. Mourain
* [[Ben Kingsley]] as Ambassador Mourain
}}


In addition, [[Baoan Coleman]] portrays retired [[People's Army of Vietnam|NVA]] Colonel Binh Le Cao, while [[G. Gordon Liddy]] has a cameo as a talk show host. This was also one of the last movie roles that [[David Graf]] played before dying from a heart attack the following year.
==Critical reception==


==Production==
Review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film a score of 37% based on reviews from 93 critics and reports a rating average of 5 out of 10. It reported the overall consensus, "The script is unconvincing and the courtroom action is unengaging."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rules_of_engagement/ | title=Rules of Engagement Movie Reviews | publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | accessdate={{nowrap|February 17}}, 2011 }}</ref> At [[Metacritic]], which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 45 based on 31 reviews.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/rules-of-engagement | title=Rules of Engagement | publisher=[[Metacritic]] | accessdate={{nowrap|February 17}}, 2011 }}</ref> Paul Clinton of the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' wrote, "At its worst, it's blatantly racist, using Arabs as cartoon-cutout bad guys."{{cn|date=February 2011}}
===Development===
The script was based on an original screenplay by future U.S. senator [[Jim Webb|James Webb]]. It had previously been in development at [[Universal Pictures]] for about ten years<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2000/june/they-all-hated-rules-engagement|title=They All Hated Rules of Engagement'|date=June 2000|access-date=2022-11-07|archive-date=2022-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108004455/https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2000/june/they-all-hated-rules-engagement|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/08/09/william_friedkin1_interview.shtml|title=Films - interview - William Friedkin|access-date=2023-06-09|archive-date=2023-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429153625/https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/08/09/william_friedkin1_interview.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> before being acquired by [[Paramount Pictures]], where the script was further developed under producer [[Scott Rudin]], with [[Sylvester Stallone]] in talks to star in the film.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/two-pix-for-twohy-nightfall-havoc-1116678689/|title=Two pix for Twohy: 'Nightfall' & 'Havoc'|date=1997-08-14|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=2022-11-07|archive-date=2022-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107094808/https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/two-pix-for-twohy-nightfall-havoc-1116678689/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/wb-locks-rock-for-role-in-lethal-weapon-4-111662482/|title=WB locks Rock for role in 'Lethal Weapon 4'|date=1997-10-07|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=2022-11-07|archive-date=2022-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107094823/https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/wb-locks-rock-for-role-in-lethal-weapon-4-111662482/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[William Friedkin]] was hired to direct,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/general-to-par-for-2-mil-1117467518/amp/|title=General' to Par for $2 mil|date=1998-02-08|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=2022-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/friedkin-set-to-tell-truth-1117468626/|title=Friedkin set to tell 'Truth'|date=1998-03-10|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=2022-11-07|archive-date=2022-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107094823/https://variety.com/1998/film/news/friedkin-set-to-tell-truth-1117468626/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2000-2/rules-of-engagement/|title=Rules Of Engagement|date=2000|website=www.bombreport.com|access-date=2024-02-11|archive-date=2024-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229060009/https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2000-2/rules-of-engagement/|url-status=live}}</ref> but had trouble collaborating with Webb on script rewrites. Rudin passed the project over to [[Richard Zanuck]], who then hired [[Stephen Gaghan]] to rewrite the screenplay, Gaghan dived into the project, reading the [[Tim O'Brien (author)|Tim O'Brien]]' novels "[[The Things They Carried]]" and "[[Going After Cacciato]]", and watching the 1957 film "[[Paths of Glory]]".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J75iAgAAQBAJ&dq=stephen+gaghan+rules+of+engagement&pg=PA85|title=FilmCraft: Screenwriting|last=Grierson|first=Tim|date=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781136070624|language=en|access-date=2023-06-09}}</ref> Webb hated Gaghan's work and frustrated the filmmaker's attempts to receive cooperation from the Department of Defense,{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} which was eventually obtained nonetheless.


===Filming===
The [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] described it as "probably the most racist film ever made against Arabs by Hollywood".<ref name=Whitaker>Whitaker, Brian. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,355880,00.html The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood], [[The Guardian]]. Friday August 11, 2000.</ref>
Location shooting took place in [[Ouarzazate]], Morocco,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kit |first=Borys |date=2006-12-06 |title=on location |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/location-145396/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |agency=[[The Associated Press]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225074655/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/location-145396/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=By |date=2000-04-07 |title=PLOT HOLES MAR POTENT ACTING, DIRECTING IN 'RULES' |url=https://www.courant.com/2000/04/07/plot-holes-mar-potent-acting-directing-in-rules/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Hartford Courant |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225074655/https://www.courant.com/2000/04/07/plot-holes-mar-potent-acting-directing-in-rules/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-04-07 |title='Engagement' Fails to Step Up in the Face of Tough Questions |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-07-ca-16815-story.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225074655/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-07-ca-16815-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nokesville, Virginia, Warrenton, Virginia (military base scenes), Hunting Island, South Carolina (Vietnam scenes), and Mount Washington, Virginia (Gen. Hodges' estate scenes).<ref>Friedkin pp. 430–431</ref>

The film was assisted in its production by the [[United States Department of Defense]] and the [[United States Marine Corps]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blizek |first1=William L. |title=The Bloomsbury Companion to Religion and Film |date=2013 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]}}</ref>

==Reception ==

===Critical response===
On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], {{RT data|score}} of {{RT data|count}} critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. The site's critical consensus reads: "The script is unconvincing and the courtroom action is unengaging."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rules_of_engagement |title=Rules of Engagement (2000) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-date=September 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930025640/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rules_of_engagement |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]] it has a score of 45% based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web |title=Rules of Engagement |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rules-of-engagement |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=2022-02-20 |archive-date=2022-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403115640/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rules-of-engagement |url-status=live }}</ref> Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title=RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (2000) A- |work= [[CinemaScore]] |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', gave it two and a half out of four stars, praising its "expert melodrama" while criticizing an "infuriating screenplay".<ref>{{cite news |date=April 7, 2000 |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Rules Of Engagement |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rules-of-engagement-2000 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |access-date=August 12, 2020 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619133213/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rules-of-engagement-2000 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Peter Bradshaw]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote that the film was "lazily plotted, grotesquely dishonest, and dripping with a creepy strain of Islamophobia".<ref name="Bradshaw">{{cite web |date=August 10, 2000 |first1=Peter |last1=Bradshaw |author-link=Peter Bradshaw |title=Rules of Engagement |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/aug/11/1 |website=[[The Guardian]] }}</ref> [[Charles Gittins]], writing from a legal perspective for [[CNN]], wrote that "the movie succeeds in capturing the details of a successful military operation and showing the possible political fallout from such an operation. The drama lags, however, once it enters the courtroom where ''Rules of Engagement'' is neither accurate nor compelling."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2000/LAW/04/22/rules.engagement/ |title=Charles Gittins: CNN: April 2000, Rules of Engagement |access-date=2020-08-12 |archive-date=2020-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128230057/http://edition.cnn.com/2000/LAW/04/22/rules.engagement/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/rules-of-engagement-rules-engages-plot-but-not-characters-1200461912/amp/|title=Rules of Engagement – 'Rules' Engages Plot But Not Characters|date=2000-04-03|website=www.variety.com|access-date=2024-02-11|archive-date=2021-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030114402/https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/rules-of-engagement-rules-engages-plot-but-not-characters-1200461912/amp/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] described it as "probably the most racist film ever made against Arabs by Hollywood", comparing it with ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' and ''[[The Eternal Jew (film)|The Eternal Jew]]''.<ref name=Whitaker>Whitaker, Brian. [https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,3604,355880,00.html "The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood"], ''[[The Guardian]]''. Friday August 11, 2000.</ref> Director [[William Friedkin]], dismissed accusations that the film was racist:
<blockquote>Let me state right up front, the film is not anti-Arab, is not anti-Muslim and is certainly not anti-Yemen. In order to make the film in Morocco, the present King of Morocco had to read the script and approve it and sign his name ... and nobody participating from the Arab side of things felt that the film was anti-Arab. The film is anti-terrorist. It takes a strong stand against terrorism and it says that terrorism wears many faces ... but we haven't made this film to slander the government of Yemen. It's a democracy and I don't believe for a moment they support terrorists any more than America does.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/08/09/william_friedkin2_interview.shtml Films - interview - William Friedkin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502134023/https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/08/09/william_friedkin2_interview.shtml |date=2023-05-02 }}. BBC. Retrieved on 2014-05-22.</ref></blockquote>

Friedkin later stated the film "was a box office hit but many critics saw it as [[jingoism]]".<ref>Friedkin p' 433</ref> He says that James Webb later saw the film on the recommendation of his friend Colonel [[David Hackworth]]; Webb then rang Friedkin to say how much he liked it.<ref>Friedkin p' 434</ref>

[[Jack G. Shaheen]] in a review for the [[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]] called it "the most blatantly racist movie I have ever seen".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shaheen |first1=Jack G. |title="Rules of Engagement": A Highwater Mark in Hollywood Hate Mongering With U.S. Military "Cooperation" |url=https://www.wrmea.org/2000-june/rules-of-engagement-a-highwater-mark-in-hollywood-hate-mongering-with-u.s.-military-cooperation.html |publisher=[[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]] |access-date=2023-08-01 |archive-date=2023-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801153502/https://www.wrmea.org/2000-june/rules-of-engagement-a-highwater-mark-in-hollywood-hate-mongering-with-u.s.-military-cooperation.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Another review in [[Senses of Cinema]] said that the "political perspective of Rules of Engagement seems to belong to another era altogether. It carries an almost anachronistic fondness for the war in Vietnam, and seems intent on validating America’s involvement in the conflict".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Freeman |first1=Mark |title=Rules of Engagement |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2000/current-releases-9/rules/ |website=[[Senses of Cinema]] |date=18 April 2012 |access-date=1 August 2023 |archive-date=1 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801153502/https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2000/current-releases-9/rules/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Trial movies]]


==References==
==References==
<references />
<references />


* Friedkin, William, ''The Friedkin Connection'', Harper Collins 2013 {{ISBN missing}}
==Further reading==

*{{cite book | last=Clagett | first=Thomas D. | year=2003 | chapter=12 Angry Men and ''Rules of Engagement'' | title=William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession and Reality | publisher=Silman-James Press | pages=363–386 | isbn=978-1-879505-61-2 }}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book | last=Semmerling | first=Tim Jon | year=2006 | chapter=Attack from the Multicultural Front (2000): ''Rules of Engagement'' | title='Evil' Arabs in American Popular Film: Orientalist Fear | publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] | isbn=978-0-292-71342-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Clagett | first=Thomas D. | year=2003 | chapter=''12 Angry Men'' and ''Rules of Engagement'' | title=William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession and Reality | publisher=Silman-James Press | pages=363–386 | isbn=978-1-879505-61-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Semmerling | first=Tim Jon | year=2006 | chapter=Attack from the Multicultural Front (2000): ''Rules of Engagement'' | title='Evil' Arabs in American Popular Film: Orientalist Fear | publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] | isbn=978-0-292-71342-0 }}


==External links==
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{imdb title|title=Rules of Engagement|id=0160797}}
* {{IMDb title|title=Rules of Engagement|id=0160797}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=3363491}}
* {{mojo title|title=Rules of Engagement|id=rulesofengagement}}
* {{mojo title|title=Rules of Engagement|id=rulesofengagement}}


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[[Category:2000 drama films]]
[[Category:2000 films]]
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[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s legal drama films]]
[[Category:2000s mystery films]]
[[Category:American legal drama films]]
[[Category:American mystery films]]
[[Category:American political drama films]]
[[Category:Films about the United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:Films directed by William Friedkin]]
[[Category:Films directed by William Friedkin]]
[[Category:Paramount films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Richard D. Zanuck]]
[[Category:2000s drama films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Scott Rudin]]
[[Category:American drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Mark Isham]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in Yemen]]
[[Category:War drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Ouarzazate]]
[[Category:Courtroom dramas]]
[[Category:Films shot in South Carolina]]
[[Category:Films shot anamorphically]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps in media]]
[[Category:Films shot in Morocco]]
[[Category:Films shot in Virginia]]
[[Category:Films shot in Virginia]]
[[Category:Films shot in South Carolina]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Stephen Gaghan]]
[[Category:Anti-Arabism]]
[[Category:Military courtroom films]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]

[[Category:Race-related controversies in film]]
[[de:Rules – Sekunden der Entscheidung]]
[[Category:Vietnam War films]]
[[es:Rules of Engagement (película)]]
[[Category:The Zanuck Company films]]
[[fr:L'Enfer du devoir (film)]]
[[Category:English-language mystery films]]
[[it:Regole d'onore]]
[[nl:Rules of Engagement]]
[[ja:英雄の条件]]
[[pl:Regulamin zabijania]]
[[sv:Rules of Engagement]]

Latest revision as of 05:12, 22 December 2024

For other uses, see Rules of Engagement (disambiguation).
Rules of Engagement
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Friedkin
Screenplay byStephen Gaghan
Story byJames Webb
Produced byScott Rudin
Richard D. Zanuck
Starring
CinematographyWilliam A. Fraker
Nicola Pecorini
Edited byAugie Hess
Music byMark Isham
Production
companies
Scott Rudin Productions
Seven Arts Pictures
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • April 7, 2000 (2000-04-07)
Running time
128 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Germany
LanguagesEnglish
Arabic
Vietnamese
Budget$60 million[1]
Box office$71.7 million[1]

Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American war legal drama film, directed by William Friedkin, written by Stephen Gaghan, from a story by Jim Webb, and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays U.S. Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial after Marines under his orders kill several civilians outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen.

Plot

[edit]

In 1968, during the Vietnam War, a disastrous American advance leaves U.S. Marine Lieutenant Hayes Hodges wounded and his men dead. His fellow platoon leader Lieutenant Terry Childers executes a North Vietnamese prisoner to intimidate a captive officer into calling off a mortar attack on Hodges' position; sparing the officer's life, Childers rescues Hodges. In 1996, Hodges, now a colonel, is set to retire after 28 years as a JAG officer. At his pre-retirement party at the Camp Lejeune Officers Club, he is honored by his old friend, Colonel Terry Childers, now the commanding officer of a Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Childers and his unit are deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, called to evacuate the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen when a routine anti-American demonstration at the embassy erupts in rock-throwing, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire. Escorting Ambassador Mourain and his family safely to a helicopter, Childers retrieves the embassy's American flag. Under heavy fire from snipers on nearby rooftops, three Marines are killed, and Childers orders his men to open fire on the crowd, resulting in the deaths of 83 irregular Yemeni soldiers and civilians, including children; the remaining Marines and embassy staff are saved.

Following this, American relations in the Middle East severely deteriorate, so U.S. National Security Advisor Bill Sokal pressures the military to court-martial Childers, hoping to salvage relations by placing all blame for the incident on the colonel. Childers asks Hodges to serve as his defense attorney, and he reluctantly accepts. Hodges rejects a plea deal from the prosecutor, Major Biggs, who is convinced of Childers' guilt but privately refuses to consider the death penalty. With little time to prepare a defense, Hodges goes to Yemen, where witnesses and police claim that the Marines fired first on the unarmed crowd. Visiting the abandoned embassy and some of the wounded, he notices an undamaged security camera and scattered audio cassette tapes.

Returning to the U.S., Hodges confronts Childers about the complete lack of evidence to support his version of events, resulting in a fistfight. Sokal burns a videotape revealing the crowd was armed and fired on the Marines, and forces Mourain to lie on the stand that the crowd was peaceful, and that Childers ignored his orders and was violent and disrespectful to him and his family. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife, who admits Childers acted valiantly but refuses to testify. Captain Lee, who hesitated to follow Childers' order, is unable to testify to having seen gunfire from the crowd. A Yemeni doctor testifies that the tapes Hodges found are propaganda inciting violence against Americans, but declares the protest was peaceful.

With Sokal on the stand, Hodges presents a shipping manifest proving that the tape from the undamaged camera – the tape Sokal burned – was delivered to Sokal's office but disappeared, with footage that would likely have exonerated Childers. Taking the stand, Childers explains that he was the only surviving Marine able to see the crowd was armed. On cross-examination, Biggs goads Childers into admitting that he ordered his men to open fire by shouting "waste the motherfuckers". Childers loses his temper, declaring that he would not sacrifice the lives of his men to appease the likes of Biggs, to Hodges' dismay.

The prosecution presents Colonel Binh Le Cao, the Vietnamese officer whose life he spared, as a rebuttal witness, testifying that Childers executed an unarmed prisoner of war. During Hodges' cross-examination, Cao agrees that Childers took action to save American lives, and that if circumstances were reversed, Cao would have done the same. After the trial, Hodges confronts Sokal about the missing tape, vowing to uncover the truth. Childers is found guilty of the minor charge of breach of peace, but cleared of conduct unbecoming an officer, and murder; Biggs approaches Hodges about investigating Childers' actions in Vietnam, but Hodges declines to testify. Leaving the courthouse, Cao and Childers salute each other.

An epilogue reveals that Sokal was found guilty of destroying evidence and Mourain of perjury, both losing their jobs, while Childers retired honorably.

Cast

[edit]

In addition, Baoan Coleman portrays retired NVA Colonel Binh Le Cao, while G. Gordon Liddy has a cameo as a talk show host. This was also one of the last movie roles that David Graf played before dying from a heart attack the following year.

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

The script was based on an original screenplay by future U.S. senator James Webb. It had previously been in development at Universal Pictures for about ten years[2][3] before being acquired by Paramount Pictures, where the script was further developed under producer Scott Rudin, with Sylvester Stallone in talks to star in the film.[4][5] William Friedkin was hired to direct,[6][7][8] but had trouble collaborating with Webb on script rewrites. Rudin passed the project over to Richard Zanuck, who then hired Stephen Gaghan to rewrite the screenplay, Gaghan dived into the project, reading the Tim O'Brien' novels "The Things They Carried" and "Going After Cacciato", and watching the 1957 film "Paths of Glory".[9] Webb hated Gaghan's work and frustrated the filmmaker's attempts to receive cooperation from the Department of Defense,[citation needed] which was eventually obtained nonetheless.

Filming

[edit]

Location shooting took place in Ouarzazate, Morocco,[10][11][12] Nokesville, Virginia, Warrenton, Virginia (military base scenes), Hunting Island, South Carolina (Vietnam scenes), and Mount Washington, Virginia (Gen. Hodges' estate scenes).[13]

The film was assisted in its production by the United States Department of Defense and the United States Marine Corps.[14]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 37% of 97 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The script is unconvincing and the courtroom action is unengaging."[15] On Metacritic it has a score of 45% based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.[17]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it two and a half out of four stars, praising its "expert melodrama" while criticizing an "infuriating screenplay".[18] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the film was "lazily plotted, grotesquely dishonest, and dripping with a creepy strain of Islamophobia".[19] Charles Gittins, writing from a legal perspective for CNN, wrote that "the movie succeeds in capturing the details of a successful military operation and showing the possible political fallout from such an operation. The drama lags, however, once it enters the courtroom where Rules of Engagement is neither accurate nor compelling."[20][21]

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee described it as "probably the most racist film ever made against Arabs by Hollywood", comparing it with The Birth of a Nation and The Eternal Jew.[22] Director William Friedkin, dismissed accusations that the film was racist:

Let me state right up front, the film is not anti-Arab, is not anti-Muslim and is certainly not anti-Yemen. In order to make the film in Morocco, the present King of Morocco had to read the script and approve it and sign his name ... and nobody participating from the Arab side of things felt that the film was anti-Arab. The film is anti-terrorist. It takes a strong stand against terrorism and it says that terrorism wears many faces ... but we haven't made this film to slander the government of Yemen. It's a democracy and I don't believe for a moment they support terrorists any more than America does.[23]

Friedkin later stated the film "was a box office hit but many critics saw it as jingoism".[24] He says that James Webb later saw the film on the recommendation of his friend Colonel David Hackworth; Webb then rang Friedkin to say how much he liked it.[25]

Jack G. Shaheen in a review for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs called it "the most blatantly racist movie I have ever seen".[26] Another review in Senses of Cinema said that the "political perspective of Rules of Engagement seems to belong to another era altogether. It carries an almost anachronistic fondness for the war in Vietnam, and seems intent on validating America’s involvement in the conflict".[27]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Rules of Engagement". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  2. ^ "They All Hated Rules of Engagement'". June 2000. Archived from the original on 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  3. ^ "Films - interview - William Friedkin". Archived from the original on 2023-04-29. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  4. ^ "Two pix for Twohy: 'Nightfall' & 'Havoc'". Variety. 1997-08-14. Archived from the original on 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  5. ^ "WB locks Rock for role in 'Lethal Weapon 4'". Variety. 1997-10-07. Archived from the original on 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  6. ^ "General' to Par for $2 mil". Variety. 1998-02-08. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  7. ^ "Friedkin set to tell 'Truth'". Variety. 1998-03-10. Archived from the original on 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  8. ^ "Rules Of Engagement". www.bombreport.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  9. ^ Grierson, Tim (2013). FilmCraft: Screenwriting. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136070624. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (2006-12-06). "on location". The Hollywood Reporter. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  11. ^ By (2000-04-07). "PLOT HOLES MAR POTENT ACTING, DIRECTING IN 'RULES'". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  12. ^ "'Engagement' Fails to Step Up in the Face of Tough Questions". Los Angeles Times. 2000-04-07. Archived from the original on 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  13. ^ Friedkin pp. 430–431
  14. ^ Blizek, William L. (2013). The Bloomsbury Companion to Religion and Film. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  15. ^ "Rules of Engagement (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  16. ^ "Rules of Engagement". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2022-04-03. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  17. ^ "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (2000) A-". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 7, 2000). "Rules Of Engagement". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  19. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (August 10, 2000). "Rules of Engagement". The Guardian.
  20. ^ "Charles Gittins: CNN: April 2000, Rules of Engagement". Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  21. ^ "Rules of Engagement – 'Rules' Engages Plot But Not Characters". www.variety.com. 2000-04-03. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  22. ^ Whitaker, Brian. "The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood", The Guardian. Friday August 11, 2000.
  23. ^ Films - interview - William Friedkin Archived 2023-05-02 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. Retrieved on 2014-05-22.
  24. ^ Friedkin p' 433
  25. ^ Friedkin p' 434
  26. ^ Shaheen, Jack G. ""Rules of Engagement": A Highwater Mark in Hollywood Hate Mongering With U.S. Military "Cooperation"". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Archived from the original on 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  27. ^ Freeman, Mark (18 April 2012). "Rules of Engagement". Senses of Cinema. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  • Friedkin, William, The Friedkin Connection, Harper Collins 2013 [ISBN missing]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Clagett, Thomas D. (2003). "12 Angry Men and Rules of Engagement". William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession and Reality. Silman-James Press. pp. 363–386. ISBN 978-1-879505-61-2.
  • Semmerling, Tim Jon (2006). "Attack from the Multicultural Front (2000): Rules of Engagement". 'Evil' Arabs in American Popular Film: Orientalist Fear. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71342-0.
[edit]
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