Behind Enemy Lines is like that coloring book you used to have when you were a child. Most of the colors were perfect, fitting right between the lines the way it was supposed to. Sometimes, though, there was that dash of red or streak of green that crossed the line and drew attention away from what was really going on.
From the outside looking in, we see Lt. Chris Burnett, (Owen Wilson, Zoolander) who is fed up with his assignment on the USS Carl Vinson.
He is ready to resign from his post and fly planes for a rock star or maybe some other rich business suit, anything but sit on this boring boat. His bad attitude lands Burnett and his co-pilot on a holiday recon mission assigned by the ship's admiral (Gene Hackman).
During the routine fly-over, the guys catch a glimpse of something that they shouldn't have. Their plane is shot down in one of the coolest air attack scenes ever created. The intensity and camera views are specatular.
Burnett is on his own now and must make contact with his control ship while avoiding the Eastern European rebel group that is vigilantly hunting him down.
Burnett runs from hiding place to hiding place creating a bit of a choppy ride for viewers. One minute he is on a mountain top, the next he is by a lake and then he is in the forest. It is during these chase scenes that the movie is normal. It is the coloring between the lines.
The coloring outside the lines is in all of the action between him running from one place to the next. There is a great mine field scene and some tense moments on an icey lake. Those strokes of brilliant editing and effects take your eyes away from the cookie-cutter plot and predictable outcome.
Hackman is missing in action for most of the movie. He demands attention when he is on the screen. Unfortunately it isn't that often that we see him.
Wilson is fantastic as America's lost soldier. He has the arrogance and attitude one would expect from an ace pilot, while still remaining humble enough to know when he is in trouble.
In the end, Behind Enemy Lines manages to satisfy by appealing to America’s patriotic spirit. It has it’s imperfections, but it’s terrific nevertheless.
Movie Grade: B
PG-13, 1 hour, 47 minutes
