THE SIEGE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: This film starts out like a police
action film and just keeps getting better. Islamic
fundamentalists of varying factions, the FBI, the
National Security Agency, and the Army all struggle
with each other for power when terrorists target
New York City. This is a complex political
thriller from Edward Zwick, perhaps one of the best
we have seen since the 1960s. Taut and well-
directed. Zwick gets a surprisingly good
performance from Bruce Willis as an enigmatic army
general. Rating: 8 (0 to 10), +3 (-4 to +4)
Earlier this year when John Frankenheimer's RONIN was released I was reflecting that it was a pity that nobody was making good political thrillers like his THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY. Now just a few weeks later I think I actually have the thriller I would have hoped for from Frankenheimer, but it has come instead from Edward Zwick who has directed such films as GLORY and LEGENDS OF THE FALL. But he has not done a political thriller since his excellent 1983 TV movie SPECIAL BULLETIN, also on the subject of terrorism.
The nightmare that everyone has feared has finally come about. Islamic fundamentalist terrorists want to force the hand of the United States government when a militant religious leader is kidnapped. The siege starts with a harmless paint bomb on a cross-town bus and mysterious anonymous demands to "release him." Anthony "Hub" Hubbard (played by Denzel Washington) is an FBI agent working with an anti- terrorism unit of the New York City Police. But the investigation leads him to the mysterious Elise Kraft (Annette Bening). Kraft is working for the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, also fighting terrorists. Somehow she is not willing to be totally cooperative with the FBI. Kraft, however, has contacts in the Islamic community from her days spent in the Middle East. Hub needs her contacts and is able to obtain her cooperation without her confidence. While the CIA's goals may be the same as the FBI's, their policies conflict and Hub is surprised how they are more competitors than they are peers. Both of their approaches are called into question when the terrorist acts turn violent and there is more and more public pressure on the President to counter the terrorists. The President declares a State of Emergency and calls in the military.
Army General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis), a quiet intellectual with a strong belief in civil liberty, cautions what a mistake giving control to the Army would be. As he puts it, "The Army is a broadsword, not a scalpel." But there is growing sentiment to do something about the rising toll from the terrorist attacks and martial law may be declared. Now there are three different government factions superficially cooperating but each struggling for power and pulling in its own direction. The issue becomes whether to defend the people at the expense of their constitutional rights, or to protect the rights at the expense of public safety. Middle East foreign policy also comes into question in interesting and morally ambiguous ways. While this is an action film, it never sacrifices the intelligence of the background story. While some of the moral issues do get resolved into a right and a wrong, most are not resolved. The gray areas of the questions pose make THE SIEGE more interesting than Zwick's last film. The much- lauded COURAGE UNDER FIRE leaves little doubt at the end who is right and who is wrong.
Denzel Washington plays a certain kind of role with real integrity. But Hub Hubbard is essentially Nathaniel Serling from COURAGE UNDER FILE or Hunter from CRIMSON TIDE. Washington's character of Hubbard is not much of a stretch for him, and is as familiar and pleasant as a McDonalds hamburger. I think of him as a better actor than Bruce Willis, but that certainly is not true in THE SIEGE. Bruce Willis's General William Devereaux is written as a complex character and a man with conflicting attitudes and agendas. Some will look at his as being a little stiff in this film but underneath there are a lot of factions warring within this man. There are a lot of surprises in Devereaux in this film and Willis makes them believable without telegraphing them. Of the roles in which I have seen Willis this performance is second only to the one in IN COUNTRY. Annette Bening is also an enigmatic figure here. Her alliances and past in the Middle East has obviously left her very disturbed and both she and Willis outshine Washington.
There has been some discussion as to whether this film is unfair to the Arabic community in this country. The filmmakers took something of a chance placing the terrorists in a particular ethnic community. It may not be for me to say, but the film has a balance of positive and negative people from that community. It will be interesting to see what protests result. This is a film that takes some chances, but I think that the result is worthwhile. I give it an 8 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +3 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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