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Lt Chris Burnett: Owen Wilson
Adm. Reigert: Gene Hackman
Stackhouse: Gabriel Macht
Rodway: Charles Malik Whitfield
Piquet: Joaquim de Almeida
Capt. O'Malley: David Keith
Lokar: Olek Krupa
The Tracker: Vladimir Mashkov
Behind Enemy Lines
is the debut for Irish director John Moore and is rather star-free,
save for reliable movie stalwart Gene Hackman and, to a lesser extent,
Owen Wilson who I've only seen before as the cowboy hick astronaut
in Armageddon alongside Bruce Willis.
The simple story finds fed-up Navy pilot Lt Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson)
heading off on another routine mission, this time being under the threat of
getting kicked out by Admiral Reigert (Gene Hackman) for being the
kind of recruit who he doesn't think gives a shit about the Navy life, but we,
the audience, know he's a good guy really, he's just the one with all the
scripted wisecracks, but all the other characters aren't aware of this fact.
While out flying on a routine reconnaissance mission, Burnett and his co-pilot
Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht) go a little off the beaten track to an area
where no-one should be about, so they're far from expecting an Eastern
European rebel group to be taking up residence and, as Burnett takes photographs
of what's going on, so those on the ground return the favour with a couple of
surface-to-air missles (SAMs), causing them to crash-land after an exhilarating
cat-and-mouse chase sees one of the missles flooring them.
The plot could seem to be based on the incident from a few years ago in which
Air Force pilot Lt Scott O'Grady was shot down in enemy territory and later
rescued by his forces, but I understand that's as far as the similarities go.
Once on the ground what follows is very predictable but very entertaining all
the same. The pilots think they're safe, Stackhouse can't walk after the crash
so takes a seat while Burnett goes to get to higher ground so he can broadcast
back to base. While he leaves his friend behind, there's a genuinely gripping
piece of supense as the enemy find him and, eventually, make an example of him,
which is why we're left with a largely one-man-against-the-elements show. It
was a shame they dispensed with Stackhouse in the way they did because the
tension was dissipated in an instant (and it's not a spoiler to know that he's
killed off because you know it's a "one-man-against-the-rest" kind of film)
before you take your seat.
Amidst the carnage, Owen takes time out to pose.
Let's get one thing straight. This is a fantastic fun film - especially
for a weekend out - and any action-movie fans will lap it up, especially with
the flashy music video-style delivered in droves, but don't expect great
things in respect of characterisation.
Wilson is fine as the all-American hero but his character his clearly defined
from the outset because he's the main man on camera. Similarly, Hackman's
Reigert is simply the man who barks orders at Burnett but takes them from his
Geoffrey Rush look-a-like superior but ends up going against them when he's
told not to risk life and limb to "get his boy back". Other than that, anyone
could be playing anyone. You're left with a series of angry young men on the
ground pacing the ground or punching a hole in a map as another setback occurs.
The scripting could do with a little rethink in some parts. There's a slight
plot diversion as Burnett thinks he's been saved by a passing truck after
Hackman delays the rescue yet again, but the passengers, a resistance force
against the rebels, disappear almost as quickly as they appear, some ten
minutes of screen-time later and a plot-hole also rears its ugly head as
Burnett somehow escapes after an explosion which separates him from the
resistance movement.
The rebels are similarly difficult to attribute names to with paper-thin
characters but it's easy to spot which is the thick one and which one's
hell-bent on revenge, etc, the latter being the leader's right-hand man,
making him rather like Arnold Vosloo's Pik from
Hard Target -
right-hand man to Lance Henriksen, because he makes it his own one-man
mission to bring Burnett down.
There's also a couple of other moments reminding me of other films, one of
Capricorn One - but
for reasons which I won't divulge so as not to spoil the plot - and another
of the opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy steals
the idol and has to dodge bullets and darts aplenty.
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