| Overall Grade: |
D |
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| Story: |
F |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Tasteless Exploitation of a Real-Life Tragedy
by Vince (movies profile)
Dec 9, 2007
12
of
18 people found this review helpful
On May 20, 1997, U.S. Marine corporal Clemente Banuelos was deployed with his squad on the U.S.-Mexico border to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in intercepting drug traffickers. While concealed in his assigned position he observed a young man open fire with a rifle in the direction of himself and his squad. Reacting according to training and rules of engagement, he returned fire, killing the man. The deceased turned out to be local goatherd and U.S. citizen Esquiel Hernandez Jr., who had been shooting at a coyote or jackrabbit (accounts differ), unaware that camoflauged Marines were in his field of fire. The tragic shooting has led to much criticism of the use of military in law enforcement roles and to the removal of Marine forces from the border patrol assignment.
I would applaud Tommy Lee Jones for taking on such a relevant and important current issue if it weren't for his utterly tasteless handling of the material. He depicts Banuelos (renamed and turned into a caucasian Border Patrol officer with a Marine haircut) as an utterly depraved human being; his hatred for the young man practically oozes from the screen. As a director he seems to revel in every indignity he heaps on the character. No time is given to the greater social or policy issues. This movie is between Jones and Banuelos, and it is personal, in the most vicious and ugly manner imaginable.
The movie was, ironically, good in most other respects. Had it been purely fiction it would have been a powerful and compelling character story. Those who don't know its background may be able to enjoy it as such. But taken in context it is about as appropriate as an off-color joke at a funeral. |
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