reel critics

Allen MacDonald

‘Black Hawk Down’ dramatizes the real life events that unfolded in

1993 during a severely botched U.S. operation in Mogadishu, Somalia.

It was intended as a joint U.N. Peacekeeping mission to kidnap two

head members of an insurgent rebel militia. A warlord who commandeered

U.N. food shipments to use hunger as a weapon led the rebels.

Underestimating the enemy, a one-hour mission grew into a 15-hour debacle

as two black hawk choppers were downed. The ensuing fight resulted in 18

American casualties and 73 injured. This bloody day and night were

documented in Mark Bowden’s bestseller of the same name. And now,

acclaimed director Ridley Scott has brought the subject to the screen

with mixed results.

This is a slickly executed movie on every level -- the dialogue jumps,

the stereo sound assaults you with blasts of artillery from every side

and the visuals are nothing short of stunning. The actions scenes are

brilliantly orchestrated and effectively gut wrenching. But I couldn’t

help but feel I was watching a video game. “Black Hawk Down” nobly

aspires to be great, but in reality, it is a hollow, empty experience. It

never finds its heart because it fails to come by it honestly.

Scott retells these events in the documentary vein, inserting his

camera deep in the ugly underbelly of battle. But rather than let these

true events speak for themselves, Scott insists on manipulating his

audience every step of the way.

I can’t help but draw a comparison with the Normandy Beach sequence of

Spielberg’s masterfully depicted powerhouse, “Saving Private Ryan.” We

saw the unmistakable fear on the faces of young soldiers as they bravely

pressed forward against dwindling odds for survival.

Spielberg truly put us inside the horror of battle, taking us

underwater as bullets ripped through bodies. He was wise enough to eschew

music and allow the natural sounds of battle to invade our minds with

terror. Spielberg let the harrowing images speak for themselves; they

didn’t need a sound track to accomplish their desired effect. Spielberg

showed restraint; something Ridley Scott hasn’t done in a decade.

The cast is electric, but the roles are stock stereotypes. Josh

Hartnett is the wise-beyond-his-experience idealist whose belief system

becomes predictably tested by the ravages of war. Ewan McGregor

(affecting a respectable American accent) plays an office soldier,

finally unchained from his desk and given the opportunity to prove

himself. The dialogue is corny and designed to make us care so that we

can have our heartstrings ripped from us during the last act.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 29, is currently working toward his master’s degree

in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.