Rules of Engagement (2000)

Tommy Lee Jones (The Package) and Samuel L. Jackson (Changing Lanes) deliver electrifying performances in this tense, superbly directed film about what happens when the rules that command a soldier become the rules that condemn him. Colonel Terry Childers (Jackson) is a patriot and a war hero. But when a peacekeeping mission he leads in Yemen goes terribly wrong, he finds himself facing court-martial. Accused of breaking the rules of engagement by killing unarmed civilians, Childers' only hope of vindication rests with comrade-in-arms Hayes Hodges (Jones), a military lawyer of questionable abilities. Together, they face the battle of their lives. From master filmmaker William Friedkin, director of The French Connection, The Exorcist and To Live and Die in L.A., and co-starring Guy Pearce, Bruce Greenwood, Anne Archer and Ben Kingsley, Rules of Engagement is a powerful, controversial thriller that examines the legal and ethical implications of military actions.