Movie Review - Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines - Jay rating of 5 Starring Gene Hackman and Owen WilsonA good popcorn and date movie. A feel good war movie, where we are the good guys and guess who wins in the end. Not much of a plot, not much acting, but plenty of good old fashion action. Its worth seeing compared to some mundane show on TV Friday nights however don't expect too much. The Plot - Shot down over Bosnia, after filming something he shouldn't have, Owen Wilson attempts to miraculously escape from evil fascists, while waiting for Americans to muddle through the political bureaucracy to pick him up. Poor Gene Hackman…truly one of my favorite actors, it felt as if he slept through this film or had his twin brother do this, while he stayed at home. What a waste of talent. Even in his other most recent movie "the heist" which was a fairly formula-matic film, his acting made it worthwile. Here there was nothing, just a lot of blank stares. Owen Wilson, who I thought has done very well in the various lite comedy roles he has been in (Zoolander, Meet the Parents, and the Jackie Chan western), doesn't really meet the challenge of action hero top gun top of guy. He seems to whine a lot. If we are going to make an action movie, at least lets keep the standard caricature of hero. He would seem better cast as a conflicted hero type of character. But there is no real character development here. In addition, the odd cinematography, which occasionally works, but mostly is just annoying, takes away even more from the basic enjoyment of what is essentially just an action movie. I think America will react well to this movie, as they want to see a movie about where we are heroes and we win the war. I could write more, but why bother.