Siege, The (1998)

reviewed by
David Sunga

THE SIEGE (1998)

Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0)
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Key to rating system:
2.0 stars - Debatable
2.5 stars - Some people may like it
3.0 stars - I liked it
3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie
4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out
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A Movie Review by David Sunga

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Written by: Edward Zwick, Lawrence Wright, and Menno Meyjes

Starring: Denzel Washington, Tony Shalhoub , Annette Bening, Bruce Willis

Ingredients: FBI lawman, terrorism, US Constitution issues

Synopsis: An honest and upright FBI lawman named Hub (Denzel Washington) is in charge of fighting Middle Eastern terrorists bombing New York. But Hub loses his authority when the President allows a power hungry US Army general (Bruce Willis) to declare martial law over the city in response to escalated bombings. The general abuses his powers. With the help of his partner Frank (Tony Shalhoub) as well as a CIA agent named Sharon (Annette Bening), Hub continues his investigations in a bid to solve the bombings and regain his rightful authority.

Opinion: After watching this movie, I found an orange paper on the front windshield of my car, on which was printed: "The stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists ... leads to prejudice, hate, and bigotry." Good point. THE SIEGE plays suspenseful, sinister music during Muslim prayer, and has bad guys perform a Muslim ritual prior to putting on white shrouds and running amok trying to bomb innocent city folk.

THE SIEGE tries to entertain us on a number of different levels, and succeeds in one. As a drama about the plight of innocent Americans being put in concentration camps, THE SEIGE doesn't develop much sympathy for the victims because none of the victims are main characters. For example, when a character shouts, "I must get my son out of the concentration camp," it comes as a relatively emotionless surprise because we don't even know his son. It would have been more dramatic if the movie had thoroughly introduced us to the son, so that the audience could bond and feel for the family's plight on a sympathetic level. Similarly, when Hub yells at the general about the inhumane treatment of Tariq, who is Tariq? A vicious terrorist? Or an innocent patsy fingered by the real villain? Tariq's identity hasn't been developed, nor do we know by the end of the film. He's just some unfortunate stranger. If you're going to do a film about injustice, then "victim" parts should be allowed to develop emotional "tug," rather than just provide surprise material for Hub's power struggle with the army.

On the intellectual level, THE SEIGE leaves a few things murky. Annette Bening gets a huge part as Sharon, the CIA's sole expert. But it's not clear whether Sharon is acting alone or on behalf of the CIA's present goal, which is not explained either. In one scene, CIA Sharon acts as an Army translator, so what's her actual mission? In the movie there is also a lot of wrangling back and forth about the fate of a mysterious shake (sheik). But the discussion peters out, and we never get to see the sheik.

On the good side, the acting is done well, and there are a few scenes with some chasing around and or featuring fancy spy hardware. As a drama about Hub's authority struggle with the army, THE SEIGE does okay.

Reviewed by David Sunga
November 6, 1998

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Siege, The (1998)

reviewed byDavid Sunga

reviewed by
David Sunga