I’ve had people tell me that this is a good book, so I’m inclined to believe them. However, how often do great books translate into good movies, especially these days? The answer is rarely. With the film version, their first mistake was getting an action/cheese director to do a suspense/drama. Action directors aren’t usually known for their character or plot development. So I’m confused, frankly, how Simon West was ever put in control of this. Still, West can’t take most of the blame. A really awful script is what’s at the core here. A script so cliché and twists so absurd and ridiculous, they must have been pulled from somebody’s ass. Excuse me, but why aren’t the killer’s fingerprints all over the body after strangling her? He wasn’t wearing gloves and you never see him wipe them off. Besides, considering his hands were in so many places, you couldn’t simply wipe them all off. This is such a major fuck up, and just one of the many things that don’t ring true.

     “There’s the right way, the wrong way and the Army way,” and then there’s the Hollywood way. The Hollywood way is to sometimes make the military look as bad as it possibly can, whether it’s right or wrong. For bad writers, it’s an easy target requiring the intellect of a three-year-old. The film tries to tackle some important issues, but just goes about them all wrong. And mistakenly relies on outdated and tired clichés for evidence, not to mention some very nonsensical characterizations. Besides, any movie that can’t even get the simplest details right, like a salute, should surely be taken at its word.

      Surprisingly, I didn’t even like John Travolta in this. I think he’s a fantastic actor, but even he stumbles and trips all over the place. Madeleine Stowe simply suffers from having a pointless character altogether, obviously inserted to give the film a female lead. Don’t even waste your time with this one, folks. It’ll leave you saying, “Huh,” far more than anything else.