Our Rating: 2.00
A stranger Christmas movie you never did see. As America’s involvement in the Bosnian conflict nears its end, a brash naval aviator (Owen Wilson) pines for the two-fisted action the complex war hasn’t been able to provide.
“At least give me a fight I can understand,” despairs Chris “Longhorn” Burnett, a true geopolitical Grinch.
His wish is soon granted. Assigned to a holiday reconnaissance mission, Burnett undertakes some unauthorized, off-course snooping that gets him shot down over Bosnian terrain. What will it take for our hero to survive? Not the support of his commanding officer (the dependable Gene Hackman), who is prevented from interfering by official protocols. Not slavish adherence to military procedure, which the bratty Burnett flouts so often that we wonder how he rose above the Reserves. That leaves one secret weapon: an astounding string of luck that makes him appear impervious to injury. You just know he always finds a parking space near the mall on Dec. 24.
“Behind Enemy Lines” is a perpetual din of screeching metal and roaring jet engines; if we wanted to hear planes this loud, we would enlist. The script pays lip service to multilateralist qualms — Burnett, after all, risks countless lives with his mischief — but finally jettisons them to push every my-country-right-or-wrong button within arm’s reach. At the screening I attended, a young guy in the audience let fly a sarcastic “U.S.A!” when the shit — um, patriotism — became particularly deep. Talk about a Christmas miracle. I guess you can’t fool all of the multiplexes all of the time.
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2001.