Tears of the Sun - 2003

Cheyenne Enterprises, Michael Lobell Productions, Revolution Studios

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Cast:

• Lt. A. K. Waters – Bruce Willis
• Dr. Lena Kendricks – Monica Bellucci
• James 'Red' Adkins – Cole Hauser
• Ellis 'Zee' Pettigrew – Eamonn Walker
• Kelly Lake – Johnny Messner
• Michael 'Slo' Slowenski – Nick Chinlund
• Demetrius 'Silk' Owens – Charles Ingram
• Danny 'Doc' Kelley – Paul Francis
• Jason 'Flea' Mabry – Chad Smith
• Captain Bill Rhodes – Tom Skerritt

Story: A military coup in Nigeria is forcing the emergency evacuation of American citizens. Navy SEALS are being used to extract the civilians, and Lt. A. K. Waters' crew has just landed on the aircraft carrier after completing one mission to be told they are going to be sent back in. After getting a hot meal and packing for a three day assignment, they are briefed by Captain Rhodes. They will be dropped in by HALO (High Altitude, Low Oxygen) where they will locate and extract an American doctor and her staff. Once at the location, they find the doctor is not willing to leave without her patients. To appease the doctor and get her moving, he tells her only the ambulatory patients can come and they must leave immediately. Her staff, a priest and two nuns, decide to remain with the patients who cannot be moved. When they reach the extraction site, it is obvious there is not enough room in the helicopters for all the people, and the doctor is forced onto the helicopter. As they are flying away, the pass over the hospital they have just come from....the troops have slaughtered everyone. Lt. Waters tells the pilot to turn around, and commits his team to escorting the patients and the doctor to the border of Cameroon, but is unaware there is a traitor in among the patients who is transmitting their location to the rebels.

Review: While this is a work of fiction, there is a strong and powerful political message here. Bruce Willis took a chance and co-produced via Cheyenne Enterprises, and the film was not financially successful. Perhaps the message of the film was one no one wanted to hear, but I applaud Willis for making it, and Fuqua for the film's honesty and integrity. If you pick up the Special Edition DVD, take the time to look at the special features and you will understand what I mean. The extras are from Africa, real people who have lived through the atrocities shown. Because of that, and perhaps because many of these fine actors were drawn in to the plight of the people, this film presents an authenticity seldom seen in a war film. The “SEALs” in the film were trained by Harry Humphries, a former SEAL and Vietnam Veteran, for two weeks to both fight and think like SEALs for the purposes of the film, and carried actual packs and gear during the filming. While Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci obviously head the cast, this is in every sense an “ensemble” cast and it shows. Cole Hauser, Nick Chinlund and the other members of the SEAL team never once break character, and present the personalities needed with a quiet elegance that you feel through the screen. One significant aspect of Fuqua's directing is clear, this is not a problem of race or location, but of decency. A problem that exists today. The recent attention to KONY has made that apparent, and President Obama has pledged to see to that problem. We shall see. Rated R for violence, atrocities, and language, this film is one for the adults in the house with a strong stomach. Collectible as one of Willis' finest films, and for anyone who appreciates a good war film.