'Tears of the Sun:' Predictable film with suspense

Photo courtesy of KRT

Bruce Willis as Lt. Waters in "Tears of the Sun."

By Robert Salemme
Staff Writer

The screenplay of “Tears of the Sun” is weak and predictable. The movie tells the story of a Navy Seals Unit whose mission is to recover four United States nationals from a Nigerian war zone. The nationals are a priest, two nuns, and a doctor. For Lt. Waters (Bruce Willis) the problem is getting these people to cooperate. The priest and nuns ignore his request and Dr. Hendricks (Monica Bellucci) also gives him a hard time. She won’t leave without her patients. But Waters cannot allow it because of limited helicopter space. Eventually he forces Hendricks on the chopper. But after looking at the village that had been destroyed by rebels, he changes his mind.

Now he has disobeyed direct orders from his superior. Waters requests extra helicopters but his superior refuses him because he will not put the choppers at risk. Therefore, the only way to save the people is to travel through the jungle to Cameroon. With rebels behind them, they don’t have much time.

As I mentioned before the screenplay is predictable. It is about the conflict between a trained professional soldier and his feelings. In this movie his feelings win out over his professional attitude. Waters and his men must keep these people safe. To do so, they will have to avoid the rebels pursuing them. Perhaps what saves this movie are the moments of suspense and action.

Like “Die Hard” the movie has huge guns and explosions. But for the less violent minded this movie addresses educational topics like genocide. Despite the weak plot, Bruce Willis performance brings a sense of suspense to the movie. In one scene, Waters asks the men if they want to continue following him. Each one of them follows him, even though he is acting on his own will. Willis does not say much but his mere presence on screen is what saves “Tears from the Sun” from being a dud. However, if you are going to see this movie don’t expect it to imitate a “Die Hard” Bruce Willis performance.

March 27 , 2003 Issue