Behind Enemy Lines

Once the Bosnian war ended and the western nations realised how much their own policies had contributed to the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. You had a spate of Hollywood movies that tried to atone for this by showing Serbs as unreconstructed bad guys. Obviously this would all change after 9/11.

Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) is a bored American flight navigator on a NATO mission in the former Yugoslavia.

On a photo reconnaissance mission Burnett and his pilot come across evidence of Serb war crimes. Their plane is shot down and the pilot is captured and executed.

While Burnett runs and hides from the Serb army. Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart (Gene Hackman) disobeys orders and sets out to rescue him.

The inclusion of Hackman means that I easily confuse this movie with Bat*21, where Hackman played a pilot shot down in Vietnam.

It just shows that how plain and undistinguished this movie is. Wilson who made his name in comedy uses this movie as a step towards action roles. Hackman plays a role he has done many times before. One more hefty pay cheque before he hits retirement.