Tears of the Sun

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Tears of the Sun follows a grizzled Navy SEAL (Bruce Willis’ Waters) as he and his men are tasked with rescuing an American doctor (Monica Bellucci’s Kendricks) from a war-torn South African country – with complications ensuing after Waters spontaneously decides to help save dozens of locals from vicious enemy soldiers. Filmmaker Fuqua, working from Alex Lasker and Patrick Cirillo’s screenplay, delivers a hit-and-miss, hilariously unsubtle thriller that unquestionably fares best in its entertaining and frequently engrossing first half, as the movie benefits from a compelling narrative that’s been suffused with a handful of impressively enthralling sequences – with this certainly exemplified by an almost unbearably tense interlude wherein Waters and his group must evade a nearby platoon of heavily-armed combatants. There’s little doubt, as well, that Tears of the Sun‘s early success is due in no small part to Willis’ compelling turn as the conflicted protagonist, and it doesn’t hurt, either, that Fuqua has elicited first-class work from a strong supporting cast that includes Cole Hauser, Nick Chinlund, and Tom Skerritt. And although the picture boasts a striking, exciting mid-movie incursion, Tears of the Sun subsequently progresses into a palpably bloated second half that diminishes its overall impact and prevents its action-heavy climax from packing the visceral punch one might’ve anticipated – with the final result a woefully erratic endeavor that would’ve been vastly improved with a much shorter running time.

**1/2 out of ****