1/5 Confusing story at best
  by MilpitasGuy (Milpitas, CA)
I could never figure out what happened first or next because the timeline goes back and forth during the whole movie. I could never figure out who Cuba Gooding was working for. Was he a soldier or a merc? Wasn't clear. If he was special forces, he needs to go back to school to learn how to clear a room. Also, don't they teach these guys about noise discipline? Why were they just yakking away in the middle of indian country like a bunch of newbs? Professional operators use hand signals.

1/5 Simply Awful
  by Christopher J. Martin (Alexandria, VA)
This movie is a cheap attempt to cash in on the public's dislike for our former president. It's got almost no coherent plot line and the action scenes are just stupid. Furthermore, the ending is horrible and leaves the viewer wondering what happened to the rest of the movie.

The basic plot is that paramilitary operative David Wolfe uncovers a plot between Osama Bin Laden and the U.S. government to keep him alive because the government needs "enemies" to create heroes.

The problem is, that "message" is all there is to this movie. Without the information on the back of the DVD case I could have never figured out who Gooding's character worked for, and it's still never made clear if he's working on behalf of the U.S. government or if there are rogue elements in the government who hatched this plot to keep Bin Laden alive.

The action scenes which are supposed to take place in Pakistan are also simply stupid. They don't clear a room in any way that's believable for anybody who's even just watched it done in other movies. The other action scenes that take place in DC are also done horribly. Characters die, sometimes in violent ways, and there's no real reason given for it.

If a director and screen writer want to make a movie that alleges the U.S. government is involved in some sort of conspiracy, at least make it believable. This one isn't. I guess Cuba Gooding Jr. needed the cash because I can't see any reason why he should have liked this script, it's awful.



1/5 Tripe!
  by G. M. Arringdale (SW Florida)
If you need to think the worst about the US government, this movie is for you. The premise that high officials including the president are in collusion with Osama Bin Laden and that government assassins roam the country killing citizens Putin style is abhorrent. That said the movie is simply not believable. The action scenes came from the imagination of one who has never been near combat. I like Cuba Gooding, but he demeaned himself by being part of this outrage. I gave it one star because nagative stars are not an option.

1/5 Wrong Way!!
  by Anthony J. Greene (Wisconsin)
I selected 1 star, only so that nobody would think that I'd forgotten to select an overall rating. But it really deserves zero stars.

This movie is awful. I'm a fan of Cuba Gooding, and that's the reason I decided to rent it even though there are no reviews on the box (not even from obscure critics).

The plot is a joke (more on that next paragraph), there's no action (don't be fooled by the cover), there are no special effects, there's nothing worth seeing. The dialogue is sophomoric, the acting is way below average, and the directing/editing are what you'd expect from a first-year film student at a bad film school. In fact the whole thing seems like something a few kids put together borrowing their dad's video camera and taking $400 out of their college funds to budget to film.

The plot consists of Gooding, a special operative, who has flash-backs to a recent mission, where his job was to apparently sit in a brightly lighted gymnasium in combat gear with two other operatives (one of them JK Simmons of Spider Man, Lady Killers and Juno fame) and discuss war cliches. Lots of flashbacks to this. Then two of them get shot without even so much as a muzzle-flash or blood stain, just a pop and they slump over. Then in-between flashbacks, federal agents are trying to kill Gooding -- for no good reasons except some embarrassment over the mission, which is not explained -- he ends up getting shot, and is saved by a quick-mart owner who sews up his wound, and gets him involved in a boxing match the next day. Gooding has a love interest that isn't connected to the story in any way. There's some blues-bar involved in the begining and end, but like everything else in the movie, there is no reason provided, no connection.

This movie just ambles from one badly-lit, two dollar, pointless scene to the next without story, without direction, without acting, without action.

If you want to spend 90 minutes wondering how Cuba Gooding got mixed up in this low-budget, mindless, soul-less film, then you can always rent it for a dollar. But certainly don't buy it, you'll be doubly dissapoointed.

Its not the worst movie I've ever seen, but its the worst movie I've ever seen that had an actor like Cuba Gooding in it. He's gotta be embarrassed. In fact, if I were him, I'd be thinking about suing my agent, or the producer of the film for damages, because this film damages Cuba Gooding.

IF ANYONE WERE TO EVER SAY ANYTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS MOVIE, THEY'D BE STRUCK BY LIGHTENING.


2/5 Not bad, not good.
  by gnomeboythree (Seattle - USA)
Firstly, let me state this film will definitely not engage viewers who are used to a fast-paced "Rambo" style adrenaline rush; it will not make sense to those with a slow attention span; Nor equally, does it fall in the linear 'Dick & Jane' format. That said, the story is quite simple: Three U.S. military Special Operators are sent to North Pakistan to take out a high ranking Taliban leader. What Gooding Jr. discovers while there, is the premise of the movie. The movie flips back and forth from history to present. I've seen better, but as a vet I think the movie provides some intrigue and isn't all that bad, really.

If you rent the movie stay focused and pay attention or you'll miss the plot (which apparently from the lack luster reviews I've read, seems common). The only things I found hard to engage about this movie, is that the Operatives wear traditional hard-healed G.I. boots (not the softer 'Men's Hi - Tec Magnum® Amazon 4 Boots' worn by Spec Ops in Iraq & Afghanistan); and the fact that they aren't wearing more body (chest) armor. I think had this movie come out in say 2004, or 2005 it would have been more controversial. But in 2008, it's conspiracy premise is somewhat old news.
All in all, I think they could have spent an extra hour adding more depth, allowing the story to be built to a level it demanded. Had that been the case, this could have been an excellent movie.