BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Playing a Navy pilot shot down over Bosnia, indie writer/actor Owen Wilson is indeed behind enemy lines — the enemy being Hollywood at its loudest and most jingoistic. His is a dangerous mission, but remind yourself that if he makes it out alive, he’ll spend his paycheck making his own worthwhile movies, like Rushmore and Bottle Rocket. No such excuse for co-star Gene “Putting the Hack Into” Hackman, who already made this movie with 1988’s Bat 21. This flashy trash is yet another debut by a TV-commercial director, and yet another wardrobe full of the Cinematographer’s New Clothes. John Moore is Irish (which may explain why the hero’s parachute is orange, white, and green), but he knows how to make a US military recruitment ad. It’s just like selling soap — heat-seeking exploding soap.

So propagandist it actually includes a product placement for defense contractor Northrop Grumman, the film seems clairvoyantly tailored for post–September 11 crowds (never mind that it’s about us protecting Muslims — the term is discreetly omitted). After making a feint at complexity, Behind Enemy Lines offers up an evil-incarnate foreign villain and others identified as friendly because they drink Coca-Cola and dress like Elvis. It exemplifies the arrogance that makes much of the world hate our guts; but it also idealizes that arrogance, and audiences are clearly in the mood to enjoy the great American pastime of oversimplification.

— John Ruch