Date: Fri 20-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Playing-Washington-Siege

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING: Good At The Questions; Not So Great With Any Answers

By Trey Paul Alexander III

I used to read comic books with a passion -- Batman, X-Men, Aquaman, (yes,

Aquaman !) -- and among the many titles I collected was What If? , a monthly

look at how things might have been for various Marvel characters if an aspect

of their familiar stories had changed. What if Peter Parker became a villain

instead of your friendly neighborhood Spiderman? What if the Fantastic Four

joined the X-Men? What if Captain America became a champion for the Soviets?

You get the picture. The current thriller, The Siege , now playing in

theatres, takes up this game of supposition.

What if New York City became the next Beirut or Belfast? What if the ugly,

no-holds-barred battles of terrorism were waged on the streets of the Big

Apple? How would it affect our government? What measures would be taken as

authorities sought to ward off mounting anxieties and a growing fear for one's

life?

The Siege is effective in prompting these questions, but not always successful

in answering them. It is fairly gripping in its first half, as the premise

unfolds, but loses momentum in the latter moments when the unrealized

character of General Deveraux (Bruce Willis) takes a more prominent role.

Denzel Washington stars as FBI agent Anthony Hubbard, who heads his team

against Arab terrorists who have targeted New York City. Questions abound as

their demands are few, their motivations are ambiguous and their identities

are only suspect. Yet their resolve is undeniable, as evidenced by the bombing

of a bus filled with people, and a rising number of increasingly violent,

brutal incidents.

As Hubbard and his agents double their efforts in an attempt to stem the

growing tide of violence, they find their paths cross with an enigmatic CIA

operative (Annette Bening) who appears to be one step ahead of them. The

intrigue becomes even more complex when General Deveraux arrives and warns

Hubbard about his new ally and also makes noises about the President's

potential decision to bring the Army into New York to proclaim martial law.

Before The Siege opened, there were statements of a potential boycott from

Arab groups who felt the film would be incendiary and unfair towards Arabs.

The need not have worried. The film goes to great lengths to balance the

depiction of its Arab characters, including a sizable role for Hubbard's best

friend and partner, a Lebanese-American agent played by Tony Shalhoub. The

work also aims to portray the horrors of an extremism that surfaces against

Arab-Americans in Brooklyn when the Army comes to town. However, the movie

also feels like it's trying to cover all its bases in the last 20 minutes and

thereby feels rushed and fails to really dig its teeth into the final act of

the film.

On a more positive note, Washington shows his simpatico sensibility with

director Edward Zwick, who also teamed with the actor on Glory and Courage

Under Fire . Washington is a commanding presence here, but even more notable

is his ability to make others around him look better. Think back to where he

first gained acclaim: he was part of a talented ensemble on TV's "St

Elsewhere." His Oscar win was a supporting actor in Glory . Here, there's a

fiery, interesting tension between Washington and Bening, as well as a nice

chemistry to his friendship with Shalhoub. Washington is the star, but his

unselfishness is evident in these onscreen relationships. Yet, due to the

underwritten role of Deveraux, sparks don't fly in the confrontations between

Willis and Washington, and that's a pity.

Nevertheless, The Siege , rated R for violence and profanity, hits enough

marks to make it an interesting, if flawed, exercise in conjecture.