OPENS SEPTEMBER 12, CERT 15, 121 MINS
Whatever happened to TV’s gag-spouting smirk-fiend David Addison? You won’t find him anywhere near Bruce Willis’ latest vehicle, which stars the former Moonlighting jester as a ferociously silent US commando and completes his transformation into the Aldo Ray of contemporary combat cinema.
Willis stars as LtWaters, commander of a Navy Seals unit flown into Nigeria to rescue four US nationals led by Dr Lena Hendricks (Monica Bellucci, all pout and cleavage). After witnessing the Nigerian rebels’ genocidal mania, Waters abandons his mission and leads Hendricks’ ailing patients toward safety at the Cameroon border.
Tears Of The Sun is a routine war pic, flashily directed by Antoine Fuqua and beautifully shot by Mauro Fiore. Bellucci is laughably glamorous, but this flick is all about Willis, deadly convincing as the conflicted lieutenant. No other contemporary screen actor can match his ability to convey so much raw emotion by saying so little?this is a five-star performance in a three-star movie.