(Thanks, robatsea2009!)

If it were released today, Roger Spottiswoode’s excellent drama Under Fire would probably carry an unfortunate “inspired by a true story” label it really didn’t require. While the film is a fine work on its own right, it’s at least partly inspired by the 1979 killing of ABC News journalist Bill Stewart and his translator by Nicaraguan National Guard forces, a tragic event that was shot on the sly by his cameraman from a nearby van and televised worldwide.

In the film, this moment comes fairly late in its running time, is staged differently and happens to one of the three American reporters we get to see go through hell as they try to survive the upsurge in violence that sweeps the country and eventually targets them…

Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy are the media members trying to make it out of Somoza’s land as things go to hell and the film works almost too well in portraying a country sinking into chaos. Nolte’s Russell Price is a sort of hotshot photog who’s in it for the pictures and is probably a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Gene Hackman plays veteran TV newsman Alex Grazier, and of course he and Price butt heads over a few plot points. Cassidy’s Claire is a radio journalist who’s initially in a relationship with Grazier, but is driven towards Price as the film plays out. This is among other things, a film about ethics and choosing sides along with telling lies in order to spread truths, all of which come into play on a few levels.

As the trio get caught up in the rising conflict, we see things falling apart that not even they expect. Safe areas of the country become overrun with rebels and government troops who are far worse than the rebels (and what the press expected), friends become traitors and as noted above, no one is safe when the bullets start flying. Price and Claire get mixed up with some rebels and there’s a great moment where baseball pops into the picture after they meet up with a grenade tossing rebel who simply wants to make it to America to pitch in the big leagues. In comes Ed Harris as Oates, a possible US operative sent in to raise his own hell and those baseball dreams are taken care of in a nasty manner.

The film throws a lot at you in a straightforward almost documentary style that doesn’t rely on crazy angles and camera tricks to keep you hooked in. As things grow more deadly for the press, there are a number of tense chase scenes and close escapes that may have your nails chewed away and your heart pounding that anyone running can get away. There are some punches to the gut in terms of who survives and who doesn’t, but the film never cheats you by tossing in an impossible action movie plate glass window explosion moment or even a smooth talking guy who’d normally get away with a few quick jokes and a bribe. One fast talking character’s last lines are something like “I think perhaps I talk too much” before he’s done in, and it’s one of the lighter moments here.

In addition to some superb performances all around, the film’s score is also brilliant stuff. Jerry Goldsmith teamed up with guitarist Pat Metheny and the result is a blend of driving tunes and a few haunting tracks that help set the required mood. If you happen to own the soundtrack, you’ll hear a dramatic difference in the guitar tracks laid down thanks to what I believe is the music being re-recorded for the LP. In the film, the guitar sounds more “live” and improvised, while the record (or tape or CD) has more of a studio sound. Both are great, mind you – I just notice these things when there’s film music I like. Speaking of noticing things, Quentin Tarantino used one of the cuts from the soundtrack in Django Unchained in one long scene and all I could think of as I was watching it was that film. Then again, Tarantino’s soundtrack picks almost always make me think of the films he takes them from…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (and still not spoiling much), this is one of those movies that gets under your skin as the tension ramps up and you hope against hope that things go towards a more Hollywood ending. You don’t quite get that (well, not at all), but the closure is worth the journey as it shows some things never change even when change is part of all that sturm und drang that just goes in a big circle and swallows up both weak and strong alike. If anything, you’ll wish some of today’s celebrity-obsessed news coverage would dry up and blow away and some journalists who made their bones chasing limousines and expensive jets would quit that nonsense and go do some ACTUAL work…