Under Fire (1983)

In the war-zone, in Chad, Russell Price (Nick Nolte) follows a squad of rebel soldiers. As bullets fly Russell shoots constantly with his cameras - for him the prize is not freedom but the cover of Time magazine. Africa seems to be a paradise for war journalists with small wars starting up all the time. In Chad alone Russell has two close friends, Alex Grazier (Gene Hackman) and Claire (Joanna Cassidy). They are on-off lovers with Alex dreaming of a spot as a TV anchor-man while Joanna seems to feed off the adrenaline of gunfire. Although Africa is news, Nicaragua appears as the new hot destination when civil war breaks out between the government and rebel freedom-fighters. Russell and Claire fly out there while Alex heads back to New York, feeling that he's too old to be chasing after soldiers.

As the leader of the rebels, Rafael, has never been photographed Russell makes this his aim. He manages to surreptitiously contact the rebels, through a well-connected French spy, and accompanies them on some raids. Although he doesn't manage to contact their leader Russell does begin to have sympathy for the rebel side, partly through the actions of psychopathic American mercenary Oates (Ed Harris). A relationship also begins with Claire, partly due to the pressures of a wartime environment, which draws Alex to Nicaragua.

The morals of this war are difficult to define when both sides commit equal atrocities. However, Russell's favour for the rebels grows until the point at which he is taken, with Claire, to meet Rafael. The background to this is that the government forces have proclaimed that the rebel leader is in fact dead, hoping to disrupt the underground resistance with this news. Russell takes a picture of Rafael but at the loss of his journalistic integrity. The fighting increases in intensity, endangering the lives of the press corps and bringing ruin to the city. Eventually the rebels win but not before Alex has lost his life (a case of wrong place, wrong time) and the twisted morals of such a war have been laid bare.

Somehow this tale of intrigue and betrayal seems suited more for American audiences, rather than anyone else, due to the fact that Nicaragua is relatively close to the US. As a film, the performances from the three leads are quite reasonable and convincing while the story itself has a lot of power. However, the characters and the revolution seem to lack a solid background on which to place them, leaving the whole edifice hanging in mid-air. Although the story doesn't collapse there are several places where the script drags, separating the exhilarating scenes of warfare in action. This leaves us with a film which is reasonably exciting and realistic, yet it fails to really grab the viewer and drag them into the steamy jungles of Central America.