Stars: Denzel Washington, Anne Heche, Bruce Willis
A religious Muslim leader is kidnapped somewhere in the Middle East and all hell breaks loose in New York City. Terrorist bombs on buses, in a schoolroom and at a theater. Lots of mayhem and bodies thanks to our Islamic brothers. After they blow up the elite FBI headquarters, martial law is declared in New York City and in comes the U.S. Army, corralling every Arab who fits the profile. Internment camps are set up and lo and behold, deja vu all over again.
The movie is a good but highly formulaic action thriller. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it, but, by the same token, nothing exceptionally good either. It left me rather cold for some reason.
The acting was good but why the producers felt the need to use Bruce Willis in his smallish part of the army general is beyond me. Perhaps Willis needed the money for his divorce, I don’t know.
I like Denzel Washington. He does a good job in whatever role he’s in Here he plays an FBI agent trying to find out who’s doing what and why and he goes to head to head with an undercover CIA agent, played by Annette Benning. She’s stingy with needed information, in addition to ‘sleeping with the enemy’ but only for professional reasons. That’s what keeps the friction going between their characters.
I found the setup – the first half or so – rather boring probably because it’s been done a million times before. I kept waiting for something different, something to engage me, and while it did get my interest up a little later on, I felt that this is a movie easily forgotten.
Lotta says if you miss this one, you won’t be missing anything at all. But one note to Hollywood producers, if you must have a petite short-haired actress in your films, then hire Annette Benning. She can act rings around that Anne Heche, whose only claim to fame seems to be that she’s a lesbian.