Rules of Engagement (2000)

Director: William Friedkin

Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L Jackson, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley


Let me start with the cast first.

Guy Pearce : Immortal role in Memento, versatility at its best – Andy Warhol: Factory Girl, cop : LA Confidential. All these 3 movies in their own ways have affected me when I saw them first. I didn’t know Guy Pearce so well then, but now after Rules of Engagement and this blog, he is going to be on my mind for long.

Tommy Lee Jones: In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men, Men in Black, Batman Forever, Natural Born Killers, The Fugitive. After seeing fugitive, I used think Pamela was married to this Tommy Lee. It’ s quite later I realized it was musician/drummer Tommy she was married once.

Samuel L Jackson: Iconic Role in Pulp Fiction, Another role I will never forget : Coach Carter.

Ben Kingsley : Iconic Role: MK Gandhi in Gandhi, Elegy and House of Sand and Fog. Such a huge presence on the screen, his face itself speaks so much, acting is optional for him I guess.

William Friedkin : Directed the acclaimed – French Connection and The Exorcist. I think with these two films he went down in the history of cinema.


Now when such big forces come together, you are bound to be moved. Rules of engagement, kept me glued to the box from start to finish. Reluctantly took some calls in between, with half my mind trying to read the subtitles. You will feel extremely moved when you hear Samuel recite the Rules of the Engagement, by heart. And when he is being but on record and accused of violating the same. Equally engaging is the performance from Guy Pearce and Tommy. Ben has a minor role to play.

Where I felt the movie and the script take plunge, is the lack of anything extraordinaire/hidden fact/climax which acquits Samuel. All the facts which were known are the ones which were known from the beginning. So, the climax per se fails to capture the imagination.