Owen Wilson is not an action hero - his voice is whiny, his nose is crooked and it's just plain hard to take him seriously. So what is the man from the world of Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore) doing in a standard war movie? Well, the answer is: saving it from being just that. Whatever Mr. Wilson is, he is not boring. The mixture of humor and cynicism that he brings to the role of Chris Burnett - the unlucky naval officer who is shot down somewhere in darkest Bosnia during tenuous peace negotiations - propels "Behind Enemy Lines" above the ranks of "just another war movie".
Add to the mix the always-reliable Gene Hackman - who somehow manages to embue the role of Chris' by-the-book commanding officer with a pervasive aura of pathos and frustration - and you end up with a taut, suspenseful 105 minutes of gung-ho, 'America the Beautiful' filmmaking.
Sure the ending is wildly stupid and yes, the villains are one-dimensional at best, but America needs to see its heroes triumph right now. It's just nice to see a hero worth watching for a change.
