Rules of Engagement (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement Poster.jpg

Home video release poster

Directed by William Friedkin

Produced by Scott Rudin

Richard D. Zanuck

Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan

Story by James Webb

Starring

Tommy Lee Jones

Samuel L. Jackson

Guy Pearce

Bruce Greenwood

Blair Underwood

Philip Baker Hall

Anne Archer

Ben Kingsley

Music by Mark Isham

Cinematography William A. Fraker

Nicola Pecorini

Edited by Augie Hess

Production

company
Scott Rudin Productions

Seven Arts Pictures

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Release date

April 7, 2000

Running time

128 minutes

CountryUnited States

Language English

Arabic

Vietnamese

Budget $60 million

Box office $71.7 million

Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American war film directed by William Friedkin, written 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 men under Childers' orders kill a large number of civilians outside the
U.S. embassy in Yemen.

Contents [hide]

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

4 Reception

4.1 Critical

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading
8 External links

Plot[edit]

In 1968, a disastrous American advance in the Vietnam War has Lieutenant Terry Childers (Samuel L.
Jackson) executing an unarmed prisoner in order to intimidate a captive North Vietnamese army officer
into calling off an ambush of U.S. Marines. His act thereby saves the life of the wounded Lieutenant
Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), though many of Hodges' men die in the battle.

In 1996, now a Colonel, Hodges is about to retire from the Marine Corps and is reminiscing about his
years in uniform. As a result of wounds he sustained during Operation Kingfisher, he was no longer able
to continue as an infantry officer, so the Marine Corps sent him to law school and he continued his
career as a JAG officer. He subsequently enters the Camp Lejeune Officers Club, where numerous Marine
officers wait to honor his service at a pre-retirement party. Hosting the event is his old friend, Col Terry
Childers, who is now the Commanding Officer of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

Subsequently deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, Col Childers and
his embarked MEU are called to evacuate the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen from the embassy grounds, as
a routine demonstration against American influence on the Arabian peninsula and in the Persian Gulf
turns into rock-throwing and sporadic automatic rifle fire by snipers from nearby rooftops. After
escorting the Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley) and his family to a waiting helicopter, Childers returns
to the embassy to retrieve the American flag; meanwhile three Marines are killed by snipers on nearby
rooftops with more gun fire following. Childers then orders his men to open fire on the crowd and
"waste the motherfuckers", resulting in the deaths of 83 civilian protesters and injuries to over 100
more.

Back in the U.S., the U.S. National Security Advisor, Bill Sokal (Bruce Greenwood), pressures the military
to proceed with a court-martial to try to deflect negative public opinion about the United States,
shouldering all the blame for the incident onto Childers and salvage American relations in the Middle
East.

Childers subsequently approaches Hodges and asks him to be his defense attorney at the upcoming
Court Martial. Hodges is reluctant to accept, knowing that his record as a JAG officer is less than
impressive and Childers needs a better lawyer. But Childers is adamant, because he would rather have an
attorney who has served in combat.
With little time to prepare a defense, Hodges visits Yemen only to find an uncooperative government and
firsthand account of the serious injuries the crowd members endured. Most of the evidence is stacked
against Childers, particularly the fact that no one else in his team can testify to having seen gunfire
coming from the crowd, in particular Capt. Lee (Blair Underwood) who hesitated to follow Childers'
order.

Sokal is determined for him to be convicted and is met by the overzealous prosecutor, Major Biggs (Guy
Pearce) who believes Childers to be absolutely guilty. Sokal at one point, burns a videotape of security
camera footage revealing that the crowd were indeed armed and firing at the Marines; evidence that
would potentially exonerate Childers. He also blackmails the ambassador Childers rescued, Ambassador
Mourain (Ben Kingsley), into lying on the stand and saying both that the crowd had been peaceful and
that Childers had been violent towards him and his family during the evacuation.

Col. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife after the Ambassador's testimony to hear her side of the story.
Although she admits Childers had been valiant, she refuses to testify and destroy her marriage.

Back at the trial, Hodges presents a shipping manifest proving that a tape from an undamaged camera
which had been looking directly into the crowd—the tape Sokal had burned—had been delivered to
Sokal's office, but failed to show up at the trial, arguing that this tape would have been damning
evidence against Childers if it had, in fact, shown the crowd was unarmed.

Capt. Lee is grilled on the witness stand by Major Biggs and despite trying to give favorable testimony,
leaves doubt of Childers' innocence.

Childers himself eventually takes the stand, with he and Biggs locked into a fierce verbal battle. Biggs
produces a tape which contains the recording of Childers' poor choice of words when giving his order.
While defending his actions, Childers loses his temper while stating that he would not sacrifice the lives
of his men to appease the likes of Biggs.

Already at an advantage, the prosecution presents the Vietnamese Colonel, who witnessed Childers
execute a POW in Vietnam, Colonel Cao, as a rebuttal witness, trying to drive home the idea that
Childers is malicious. Hodges cross-examines him and gets him to testify that had the circumstances
been reversed, Col. Cao would have done the same thing. After the trial, Hodges visits Sokal and asks
him what had happened to the tape; Sokal denies its existence and Hodges replies "Have you ever had a
pissed off Marine on your tail?"

The film ends with Childers being found guilty of the minor charge of breach of the peace (for having
disobeyed his order to just show his Marines' presence), but not guilty of the more serious charges of
conduct unbecoming of an officer (eligible for Dismissal from the Service, similar to a Dishonorable
discharge for enlisted personnel) and murder (eligible for life imprisonment, and even the death
penalty). A final title card reveals that no further charges were brought against Childers and that he
retired honorably from the Marine Corps. The title card also explains that both Sokal and Mourain lost
their jobs after being convicted of destruction of evidence and perjury respectively.

Cast[edit]

Tommy Lee Jones as Col Hays Lawrence "Hodge" Hodges II, USMC

Samuel L. Jackson as Col Terry L. Childers, USMC

Guy Pearce as Maj Mark Biggs, USMC

Ben Kingsley as Ambassador Mourain

Bruce Greenwood as U.S. National Security Advisor Bill Sokal

Anne Archer as Mrs. Mourain

Blair Underwood as Capt Lee, USMC

Philip Baker Hall as Gen Hays Lawrence Hodges, USMC (Ret)

Dale Dye as MajGen Perry, USMC

Mark Feuerstein as Tom Chandler

Richard McGonagle as court judge, Col E. Warner, USMC

Baoan Coleman as Colonel Binh Le Cao, NVA (Retd)

Nicky Katt as Hays Lawrence Hodges III

Ryan Hurst as Captain Hustings, USMC

Gordon Clapp as Harris

Amidou as Dr Ahmar
Hayden Tank as Justin

Ahmed Abounouom as Jimi

Tuan Tran as translator

John Speredakos as lawyer

Jihane Kortobi as little girl

David Lewis Hays as bailiff NCO

Peter Tran as Col Cao's radio operator

Bonnie Johnson as Mary Hodges

Jason C. West as Col Childer's radio operator

Attifi Mohamed as Tariq

Zouheir Mohamed as Aziz

Thom Barry as Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Kevin Cooney as Four-star General

Helen Manning as Sarah Hodges

David Graf as ARG Commander

Conrad Backmann as Secretary of defense

Baouyen C. Bruyere as Col Cao's granddaughter

G. Gordon Liddy as talk-show hostRules of

Engagement (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rules of Engagement
 Home video release poster

Directed by William Friedkin

Produced by Scott Rudin

Richard D. Zanuck

Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan

Story by James Webb

Starring
Tommy Lee Jones

Samuel L. Jackson

Guy Pearce

Bruce Greenwood

Blair Underwood

Philip Baker Hall

Anne Archer
 Ben Kingsley

Music by Mark Isham

Cinematography William A. Fraker

Nicola Pecorini

Edited by Augie Hess

Production Scott Rudin Productions

company Seven Arts Pictures

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Release date
April 7, 2000

Running time 128 minutes

Country United States

Language English
Arabic
Vietnamese

Budget $60 million

Box office $71.7 million

Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American war film directed by William Friedkin, written by Jim
Webb and starring Tommy Lee Jonesand Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays U.S. Marine Colonel
Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial after men under Childers' orders kill a large number of
civilians outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen.

Contents
[hide]

 1Plot

 2Cast

 3Production

 4Reception

o 4.1Critical

 5See also

 6References
 7Further reading

 8External links

Plot[edit]
In 1968, a disastrous American advance in the Vietnam War has Lieutenant Terry Childers (Samuel
L. Jackson) executing an unarmed prisoner in order to intimidate a captive North Vietnamese
army officer into calling off an ambush of U.S. Marines. His act thereby saves the life of the wounded
Lieutenant Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), though many of Hodges' men die in the battle.
In 1996, now a Colonel, Hodges is about to retire from the Marine Corps and is reminiscing about his
years in uniform. As a result of wounds he sustained during Operation Kingfisher, he was no longer
able to continue as an infantry officer, so the Marine Corps sent him to law school and he continued
his career as a JAG officer. He subsequently enters the Camp Lejeune Officers Club, where
numerous Marine officers wait to honor his service at a pre-retirement party. Hosting the event is his
old friend, Col Terry Childers, who is now the Commanding Officer of a Marine Expeditionary
Unit (MEU).
Subsequently deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, Col Childers
and his embarked MEU are called to evacuate the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen from the embassy
grounds, as a routine demonstration against American influence on the Arabian peninsula and in
the Persian Gulf turns into rock-throwing and sporadic automatic rifle fire by snipers from nearby
rooftops. After escorting the Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley) and his family to a waiting
helicopter, Childers returns to the embassy to retrieve the American flag; meanwhile three Marines
are killed by snipers on nearby rooftops with more gun fire following. Childers then orders his men to
open fire on the crowd and "waste the motherfuckers", resulting in the deaths of 83 civilian
protesters and injuries to over 100 more.
Back in the U.S., the U.S. National Security Advisor, Bill Sokal (Bruce Greenwood), pressures the
military to proceed with a court-martial to try to deflect negative public opinion about the United
States, shouldering all the blame for the incident onto Childers and salvage American relations in
the Middle East.
Childers subsequently approaches Hodges and asks him to be his defense attorney at the upcoming
Court Martial. Hodges is reluctant to accept, knowing that his record as a JAG officer is less than
impressive and Childers needs a better lawyer. But Childers is adamant, because he would rather
have an attorney who has served in combat.
With little time to prepare a defense, Hodges visits Yemen only to find an uncooperative government
and firsthand account of the serious injuries the crowd members endured. Most of the evidence is
stacked against Childers, particularly the fact that no one else in his team can testify to having seen
gunfire coming from the crowd, in particular Capt. Lee (Blair Underwood) who hesitated to follow
Childers' order.
Sokal is determined for him to be convicted and is met by the overzealous prosecutor, Major Biggs
(Guy Pearce) who believes Childers to be absolutely guilty. Sokal at one point, burns a videotape
of security camera footage revealing that the crowd were indeed armed and firing at the Marines;
evidence that would potentially exonerate Childers. He also blackmails the ambassador Childers
rescued, Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley), into lying on the stand and saying both that the crowd
had been peaceful and that Childers had been violent towards him and his family during the
evacuation.
Col. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife after the Ambassador's testimony to hear her side of the
story. Although she admits Childers had been valiant, she refuses to testify and destroy her
marriage.
Back at the trial, Hodges presents a shipping manifest proving that a tape from an undamaged
camera which had been looking directly into the crowd—the tape Sokal had burned—had been
delivered to Sokal's office, but failed to show up at the trial, arguing that this tape would have been
damning evidence against Childers if it had, in fact, shown the crowd was unarmed.
Capt. Lee is grilled on the witness stand by Major Biggs and despite trying to give favorable
testimony, leaves doubt of Childers' innocence.
Childers himself eventually takes the stand, with he and Biggs locked into a fierce verbal battle.
Biggs produces a tape which contains the recording of Childers' poor choice of words when giving
his order. While defending his actions, Childers loses his temper while stating that he would not
sacrifice the lives of his men to appease the likes of Biggs.
Already at an advantage, the prosecution presents the Vietnamese Colonel, who witnessed Childers
execute a POW in Vietnam, Colonel Cao, as a rebuttal witness, trying to drive home the idea that
Childers is malicious. Hodges cross-examines him and gets him to testify that had the circumstances
been reversed, Col. Cao would have done the same thing. After the trial, Hodges visits Sokal and
asks him what had happened to the tape; Sokal denies its existence and Hodges replies "Have you
ever had a pissed off Marine on your tail?"
The film ends with Childers being found guilty of the minor charge of breach of the peace (for having
disobeyed his order to just show his Marines' presence), but not guilty of the more serious charges
of conduct unbecoming of an officer (eligible for Dismissal from the Service, similar to
a Dishonorable discharge for enlisted personnel) and murder (eligible for life imprisonment, and
even the death penalty). A final title card reveals that no further charges were brought against
Childers and that he retired honorably from the Marine Corps. The title card also explains that both
Sokal and Mourain lost their jobs after being convicted of destruction of
evidence and perjury respectively.

Cast[edit]
 Tommy Lee Jones as Col Hays Lawrence "Hodge" Hodges II, USMC

 Samuel L. Jackson as Col Terry L. Childers, USMC

 Guy Pearce as Maj Mark Biggs, USMC

 Ben Kingsley as Ambassador Mourain

 Bruce Greenwood as U.S. National Security Advisor Bill Sokal

 Anne Archer as Mrs. Mourain

 Blair Underwood as Capt Lee, USMC

 Philip Baker Hall as Gen Hays Lawrence Hodges, USMC (Ret)

 Dale Dye as MajGen Perry, USMC

 Mark Feuerstein as Tom Chandler

 Richard McGonagle as court judge, Col E. Warner, USMC

 Baoan Coleman as Colonel Binh Le Cao, NVA (Retd)

 Nicky Katt as Hays Lawrence Hodges III

 Ryan Hurst as Captain Hustings, USMC

 Gordon Clapp as Harris

 Amidou as Dr Ahmar

 Hayden Tank as Justin

 Ahmed Abounouom as Jimi

 Tuan Tran as translator

 John Speredakos as lawyer

 Jihane Kortobi as little girl

 David Lewis Hays as bailiff NCO

 Peter Tran as Col Cao's radio operator

 Bonnie Johnson as Mary Hodges

 Jason C. West as Col Childer's radio operator

 Attifi Mohamed as Tariq

 Zouheir Mohamed as Aziz

 Thom Barry as Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

 Kevin Cooney as Four-star General

 Helen Manning as Sarah Hodges

 David Graf as ARG Commander

 Conrad Backmann as Secretary of defense

 Baouyen C. Bruyere as Col Cao's granddaughter

 G. Gordon Liddy as talk-show host