Behind Enemy Lines Review

Two films hit screens in early 2002 that strike a chord, particularly with American audiences, so soon after the war in Afghanistan. One is Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, based on true events in Somalia. The other, Behind Enemy Lines, is more loosely inspired by the experience of Scott O'Grady, the airman shot down over Bosnia in 1995. Less substantial than Scott's film, this film, directed by first-timer Moore, does offer - dare one say it - more escapist entertainment.

Owen Wilson plays against type as flight navigator Chris Burnett. The film opens with the start of a ceasefire treaty and the impending withdrawal of peacekeeping forces. Burnett is frustrated, having enlisted for combat and seen none. Then, on a reconnaissance mission, he is shot down behind enemy lines by Serbs still intent on war - and who set out to find and kill the airman. From here on it's a matter of Burnett trying to stay alive, while his commander (Hackman) persuades political superiors to let him get his man out.

It's an odd, clumsy film, veering wildly between the Jerry Bruckheimer school of wise-cracking, high-octane action and a more sober tone as Burnett is pursued through war-torn Bosnia; one scene, in which he avoids detection amid the mud-splattered victims of a massacre, belongs in a different movie. That the film works, just, is due to some spectacular set pieces, and an engaging turn by Wilson as a soldier way out of his depth.