Black Hawk Down
review by Jessica Bursi

An old man walks slowly in front of an armed tank speeding down the street, shooting at all armed civilians. The old man does not care if he is struck by the foreign battle mobile as he is carrying a five or six year old dead boy in his arms. This brief scene fully encompasses the movie from which it came, Black Hawk Down.

They represent the hopelessness of a war torn people fighting many enemies; most of whom may have no reason involving themselves in such a civil struggle. Gosh, it’s an extremely timely message that will no doubt leave the issue of American involvement in international strife as wide open and unresolved as one character’s femoral artery that has traveled upwards into his pelvis. Yuck.

Like most war movies, Black Hawk Down fully succeeds in trivializing the average consumer’s meaningless life (I mean... the movie actually made me stop thinking about a new Chevy Malibu. Don’t fret, Pops, the want has already come back!). However, unlike it’s bastard cousin, the terrifically silly Behind Enemy Lines, Black Hawk Down rings so true in its portrayal of a very recent conflict that it is almost unbearable to watch at times; ravaged bodies and devastated cities are the grim effect of a situation run awry.

In the film, several of America’s elite forces look to capture several wanted leaders of their Somali enemies in a quick pick-up mission, but sh*t happens as you might expect from a film whose title refers to the downing of a helicopter. US soldiers fight for their lives and limbs (literally) as night falls and far outnumbering enemy forces rush them with their human wave strategy (As a result, 1,000 of them die while only 19 Americans perish.)

Consistent camera work and an only marginally heavy handed soundtrack accentuate the painful reality of that fateful day in the Mog (Mogadishu). The extremely successful ensemble cast (like some Altman version of “Hell: the Movie”) has no real star, but elicits honest and poignant performances from the likes of Tom Sizemore, Ewan MacGregor, Josh Hartnett, a greying Sam Shepard, and golly, the whole cast was wonderful. As a harrowing and intensely gripping film, Black Hawk Down is a class act.

Unfortunately, it did not fare as well in the unbiased and truthful category. Still, it did give a tiny bit of character to the enemy Skinnies (Somalians) in the form of their truth espousing POW keeper and the cold hard fact that the American death toll was only two percent of theirs. So, despite the lack of objectivity, I’d highly recommend Black Hawk Down to anyone who can stomach the stomach churning and gasp inducing happenings.