The Underrated Movies

Tears of the Sun

The first in what will hopefully become an ongoing series on movies that I enjoy, but that never got their due for any number of reasons, maybe because the time wasn't right, maybe because they aren't actually that good...

Tears of the Sun is a 2003 action/war film starring Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, and a small group of applicants to the Hey, It's That Guy! Hall of Fame. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, King Arthur), the film tells the fictional story of a team of SEALs sent into Nigeria in the midst of a bloody military coup, tasked with the rescue of an American citizen, Dr. Lena Kendricks (Bellucci). The noble Dr. Kendricks refuses to leave behind her patients/friends at the clinic where she has been working, and after some brief hemming and hawing, Willis' SEAL team leader agrees to take the whole gang along for the ride.

The film becomes a suspense-filled chase through the dense Nigerian jungle as our heroes attempt to reach the safety of the Cameroon border before being caught and slaughtered by the rebel army in hot pursuit. The SEALs gradually find out that their wards are more important than they were intially led to believe, and the climax features an all-out battle between the good guys and the bad in a race for the border.

The film features solid performances from both Willis and Bellucci, the former is stolid and steadfast, a soldier who follows orders but has a conscience, the latter is strong and vulnerable simultaneously, and, as always, gorgeous, even with the layers of jungle grime and blood that accumulate. (Cue gratuitous Monica Bellucci picture)

However, it's the supporting cast, the guys who make up Willis' no-nonsense SEAL team and the sympathetic refugees that add something extra to the movie. This is no Die Hard (although apparently it was originally intended to be the 4th in the series), with Willis doing all the heavy action lifting. Willis is the leader, and as such delegates the majority of the work to his subordinates.

Two member of the "Jason Statham Heterosexual Badass MoFo Man Crush Club," (JSHBMFMCC) Cole Hauser and Johnny Messner, are featured as Willis' right-hand man, Red, and the pointman/sniper Kelly Lake, respectively, and HiTG! alums Nick Chinlund and Eamonn Walker play veterans torn between doing their job and doing what they know is right. Between the four of them and Willis, it seems as if the craft services table consisted of ground up concrete, carpet tacks, and straight gravel.

This conflict, between following orders and doing the right thing, forms the central quandary in the film, and came at a timely moment in our country's history. The film opens with a quote widely attributed to Edmund Burke (although it's debatable whether he ever actually said it) "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing."

At the time of the film's release, and still today, our country is engaged in a heated debate over whether or not we should be involving ourselves in the conflicts of other nations, whether our soldiers should be sent to fight, kill, and die in foreign lands, in wars that do not directly affect us. Genocide in the Sudan, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, starvation in Somalia, widespread murder and torture in Iraq, our country has intervened, or been begged to do so in many different regions around the world over the last two decades, and each time there has been a vocal opposition telling us why we should or should not have done so.

Tears of the Sun tackles this question head on, the question of whether or not, as the world's strongest country, with the world's most powerful military, do we have the right, or even the responsibility to do what's necessary to keep safe those people unable to do so themselves. The answer, of course, is a resounding "Hell Yes," as Willis and Co. proceed to wreak vengeance and bloody death on those who would rape, mutilate, and slaughter those with whom they disagree.

The American military is depicted throughout as unfailingly honorable, moral, and extremely competent, the SEALs themselves are portrayed as thinking, caring, and bad ass men, willing to sacrifice their own lives for those who are too weak to protect themselves, and trained well enough to deal out extensive punishment of their own.

The action scenes are a textbook example of the right way to do this type of thing, chaotic, loud, bloody, and explosive, but at the same time incredibly easy to follow. Fuqua achieves something relatively unique these days, putting on film scenes of war that simultaneously put the viewer directly in the middle of the action, with bullets whizzing by, grenades and RPGs exploding all around, and yet without ever becoming confusing. Part of the brilliance of the film is the precision demonstrated in the maneuvers of the SEALs as the small team takes on a much larger rebel force in the climax, maneuvers that the viewer is able to observe and understand. Nothing is lost in the chaos of battle, we understand how and why the SEALs are doing what they are doing, and this is a remarkable feat on the part of the director.

All in all, if you're in the mood for a movie that actually shows the U.S. military in a positive light, that has clear cut good and bad guys, that doesn't shirk from showing men doing the right thing even when it involves killing bad guys in cold blood, that doesn't try to conflate killing to save innocent lives and killing to end innocent lives (ahem, The Kingdom), and that views honor, self-sacrifice and righteous ass-kicking as values to be cherished, then you'll enjoy Tears of the Sun.