Tears Of The Sun (2003) Movie Information:
| Tears Of The Sun (2003) Directed by: |
 Antoine Fuqua |
| Tears Of The Sun (2003) Written by: |
| Patrick Cirillo, Alex Lasker |
| Tears Of The Sun (2003) Cast: |
| Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, Cole Hauser, Eamonn Walker, Nick Chinlund, Fionnula Flanagan, Malick Bowens, Tom Skerritt, Johnny Messner, Paul Francis |
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Tears Of The Sun (2003) Synopsis:
Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician, Dr. Lena Kendricks. Dr. Kendricks, an American citizen by marriage, is tending to the victims of the ongoing civil war at a Catholic mission in a remote village. When Waters arrives, however, Dr. Kendricks refuses to leave unless he promises to help deliver the villagers to political asylum at the nearby border. If they are left behind, they will be at the mercy of the enormous rebel army. Waters is under strict orders from his commanding officer Captain Bill Rhodes to remain disengaged from the conflict. But as he and his men witness the brutality of the rebels first-hand, they are won over to Dr. Kendricks' cause and place their lives at risk by agreeing to escort the villagers on a perilous trek through the dense jungle. As they move through the countryside on foot, Waters' team, experts at evasion and concealment, are inexplicably and ferociously pursued by an army of rebels. They are confounded until they discover that, among the refugees, is the sole survivor of the country's previous ruling family, whom the rebels have been ordered to eliminate at all costs. Waters and his small band of soldiers must weigh the life of one man against their own and the refugees they feel obliged to protect.
Tears Of The Sun (2003) Movie Review:
Tears of the Sun is a well-crafted militaristic film that is more of a drama than a pure action film. The film does have some action, the last half hour is non-stop, but the overall storyline stands above the war driven action sequences.
The film opens with a group of Navy Seals, lead by A.K. Waters (Willis) that arrive in an African war zone to rescue an American doctor that is currently working in a small village. The doctor is Lena Hendricks (Bellucci), who is an American by marriage and agrees to leave only if she can take along her fellow workers and patients. Waters and his crew lead her and the others toward the safety helicopters. Upon arrival the pick-up point, Waters more or less takes the doctor and leaves behind the rest of her people. However, as the unit flies over the doctor's village, Waters and his men see the destruction of the village by the rebel troops. He then turns the chopper around and returns to he ground to move on to Cameroon, which is a zone where they all will be safe. With more people for the unit to protect, the risk becomes higher as the group faces the conflicts war while a huge rebel army is tracking them.
More than an action war movie, Tears of the Sun focuses on Africa and the unspeakable horrors and genocide that some of the African people are facing due to their religious differences. The screenplay by Patrick Cirillo and Alex Laster starts off quick, the Navy Seals are really become known by their appearances and nicknames. Even the doctor character isn't really developed, but you still feel for the characters after the first half of the film. I guess it is the situational content and the film's strong acting that does this. The centered concepts of the screenplay are of course hope, freedom, and heroism. The protagonist, Waters, is very compelling because he is a hard-nosed solider that goes against his orders. Is he right or wrong? What would you do in his situation? These are a few questions that arise from some of his decisions, the character himself even admits halfway through the film that he doesn't know yet why he did what he did. For characters that the audience never learns the history of, the situations and contexts are what make them so identifiable.
Antoine Fuqua is on the rise as one of Hollywood's most proficient young directors. Previously, he brought us another powerful film, Training Day (2001). Now, with Tears of the Sun he gets a bigger budget and shows a lot more confidence. The violence and brutality isn't constant (like in We Were Soldiers (2002)) or too much (like in Black Hawk Down (2001)), it is balanced, but it stays in your head after you leave the theater. The action sequences are full of energy and the drama is very consistent. Fuqua uses a lot of shadows, rain, and green night vision as some of his selections. As a director, Fuqua also knows that with an actor like Bruce Willis, he can just let him hold the screen without him uttering one word of dialogue. Willis' character has maybe ten lines in the first 30 minutes of the film.
In the past, Willis has been a strong action hero star; he of course helped create the "one cop trapped against many terrorists" genre with Die Hard (1988). Over the last five years, Willis has been more selective with his roles and it has helped his range as an actor. Willis' performance as Waters has him roaming in an area of his craft that we have seen before, but his role in Tears of the Sun is one of his best. Monica Bellucci is a striking actress to watch work, with Tears of the Sun actually being one of her first Hollywood English speaking roles; she engulfs the screen and delivers emotional discoveries one after another as Dr. Hendricks. Watch out for Bellucci this summer in the upcoming Matrix sequel. The rest of the cast is also strong, which includes Oz's Eamonn Walker and Good Will Hunting's Cole Hauser as part of Water's unit.
Tears of the Sun is a lot more than an action film; it is a striking militaristic drama. There are a few inconsistencies in the film, but overall I thought was it a well-developed and constructed piece. Tears of the Sun will probably be one of the better films to come out this spring.
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Tears Of The Sun (2003) review written by: Bailey Henderson
