In the light of current events, it is difficult to imagine that not so long ago, most of the world didn't perceive the US military as a tool of oppression and genocide. Actually, in those times, most people viewed the US military as the only institution capable of solving such problems. One such instance was the war in Bosnia, which provides the background for JAG, a 1995 television film written and directed by John P. Bellisario.
The plot begins in the Adriatic Sea, where US Navy planes are enforcing a "no-fly zone" introduced to prevent Bosnian Serbs from overwhelming defenseless Bosnian Muslims. Two Bosnian Serb jets trying to challenge the US Navy are shot down by the squadron commanded by Captain Thomas "Cag" Boone (played by Terry O'Quinn). One participant in this action is Cag's radar operator Lt. Angela Arutti (played by Katie Rich). She becomes instantly famous when it turns out that she is the first American woman to shoot down an enemy plane. Before being able to meet the press or ponder her future in the Navy, she falls from the deck of the aircraft carrier and dies. Due to the sensitivity of the case, Washington sends two Judge Advocate General investigators - Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. (played by David James Elliott) and Lt. Caitlin Pike (played by Andrea Parker) - to the ship to determine whether the death was an accident, suicide, or murder. They soon discover that many male pilots, including Cag, simply can't stand the idea of their female colleagues taking part in combat actions. In the meantime, Harm is haunted by memories of his father who went missing during the Vietnam War, as well as his own failed career as a jet pilot.
JAG was a pilot for a television show that later proved to be immensely popular. The show owed its success to the good combination of stock footage, cool uniforms, humor, and unresolved sexual tension between the two main protagonists. All of that provided not only good entertainment but also an excellent tool for American militaristic propaganda. However, in the pilot film, the formula wasn't perfected yet, and that is reflected in JAG being more propaganda than entertainment. Characters aren't fleshed out as they should be, and some of them serve more as symbols than as realistic human beings. Bellisario's script conforms to the "politically correct" rules of 1990s Hollywood (women=good, men=bad), so the audience is able to solve the murder mystery much sooner than the protagonists.
Even more problematic is the script's approach towards the realities of 1990s Balkans and Europe, which represents another example of the smug, arrogant attitudes Americans had towards other nations prior to September 11th, 2001. In the JAG universe depicted in this film, Bosnian Serb jets are able to fly over the Adriatic, apparently unmolested by Croatian air defenses, while the only fishermen in the Adriatic Sea are Italians who apparently use primitive technology that hasn't changed over millennia. However, the biggest flaw of the film is its hypocritical approach towards gender relations in the military - while the pilots in the film are presented as sexist pigs, the protagonist's attitude towards his female partner is presented as innocent "playfulness". The show, which, unlike its pilot, was never meant to be taken completely seriously, is much better.
Rating: 2/10 (-)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on May 17th, 2004)
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