Kind of incredible to watch this in the context of a post-9/11, post MAGA world. The ideals — even if naively idealistic — America measured itself by at the time are so outdated it’s hard to fathom. Regardless of the copaganda at play here, The Siege operates under the assumption that Americans need to at least believe they’re the good guys. The triumphant ethical moment comes through Washington’s character expressing a moral repugnance with even the idea of “water” torture; only a few years later the report on American torture methods would be made plain. The b-plot is the disgust at the concept of Muslim people being rounded up and put into camps based on their race: we are expected to view this as an extreme escalation that functions as a hypothetical conundrum. That exact concept is now just a basic fact of life. American ideals — regardless of how true they ever were — just don’t function this way anymore. The lie of American/western moral exceptionalism (the humanistic revolution that a ragtag group of colonists managed to hit upon after the stogy aristocracy of the UK and Europe) is just straight up dead now. American audiences don’t require being fed the narrative that they are more free by nature of their refusal to limit anyone’s freedoms. America is just like… a castle at this point. And it’s totally chill to directly address the evils necessary to keep its walls thick and free of foreign invaders. The Siege is kind of dated but that’s not why it wouldn’t work anymore now. And that’s kind of frightening.

Kind of incredible to watch this in the context of a post-9/11, post MAGA world. The ideals — even if naively idealistic — America measured itself by at the time are so outdated it’s hard to fathom. Regardless of the copaganda at play here, The Siege operates under the assumption that Americans need to at least believe they’re the good guys. The triumphant ethical moment comes through Washington’s character expressing a moral repugnance with even the idea of “water” torture; only a few years later the report on American torture methods would be made plain. The b-plot is the disgust at the concept of Muslim people being rounded up and put into camps based on their race: we are expected to view this as an extreme escalation that functions as a hypothetical conundrum. That exact concept is now just a basic fact of life. American ideals — regardless of how true they ever were — just don’t function this way anymore. The lie of American/western moral exceptionalism (the humanistic revolution that a ragtag group of colonists managed to hit upon after the stogy aristocracy of the UK and Europe) is just straight up dead now. American audiences don’t require being fed the narrative that they are more free by nature of their refusal to limit anyone’s freedoms. America is just like… a castle at this point. And it’s totally chill to directly address the evils necessary to keep its walls thick and free of foreign invaders. The Siege is kind of dated but that’s not why it wouldn’t work anymore now. And that’s kind of frightening.

Kind of incredible to watch this in the context of a post-9/11, post MAGA world. The ideals — even if naively idealistic — America measured itself by at the time are so outdated it’s hard to fathom. Regardless of the copaganda at play here, The Siege operates under the assumption that Americans need to at least believe they’re the good guys. The triumphant ethical moment comes through Washington’s character expressing a moral repugnance with even the idea of “water” torture; only a few years later the report on American torture methods would be made plain. The b-plot is the disgust at the concept of Muslim people being rounded up and put into camps based on their race: we are expected to view this as an extreme escalation that functions as a hypothetical conundrum. That exact concept is now just a basic fact of life. American ideals — regardless of how true they ever were — just don’t function this way anymore. The lie of American/western moral exceptionalism (the humanistic revolution that a ragtag group of colonists managed to hit upon after the stogy aristocracy of the UK and Europe) is just straight up dead now. American audiences don’t require being fed the narrative that they are more free by nature of their refusal to limit anyone’s freedoms. America is just like… a castle at this point. And it’s totally chill to directly address the evils necessary to keep its walls thick and free of foreign invaders. The Siege is kind of dated but that’s not why it wouldn’t work anymore now. And that’s kind of frightening.

Kind of incredible to watch this in the context of a post-9/11, post MAGA world. The ideals — even if naively idealistic — America measured itself by at the time are so outdated it’s hard to fathom. Regardless of the copaganda at play here, The Siege operates under the assumption that Americans need to at least believe they’re the good guys. The triumphant ethical moment comes through Washington’s character expressing a moral repugnance with even the idea of “water” torture; only a few years later the report on American torture methods would be made plain. The b-plot is the disgust at the concept of Muslim people being rounded up and put into camps based on their race: we are expected to view this as an extreme escalation that functions as a hypothetical conundrum. That exact concept is now just a basic fact of life. American ideals — regardless of how true they ever were — just don’t function this way anymore. The lie of American/western moral exceptionalism (the humanistic revolution that a ragtag group of colonists managed to hit upon after the stogy aristocracy of the UK and Europe) is just straight up dead now. American audiences don’t require being fed the narrative that they are more free by nature of their refusal to limit anyone’s freedoms. America is just like… a castle at this point. And it’s totally chill to directly address the evils necessary to keep its walls thick and free of foreign invaders. The Siege is kind of dated but that’s not why it wouldn’t work anymore now. And that’s kind of frightening.

Perhaps a director with more elegance than Ed Zwick would make this uneven thriller truly great, but his sincere belief in the American way courses through it, and I found it sort of inspiring. On the face of it it sounds something later on Mark Wahlberg would take on in the style of one of his “If only I were there” movies, but despite it being workmanlike, it makes two politically satisfying points: 1. if we accept martial law, then the terrorists have won, and 2. Terrorist attacks are very often predictable blowback from the actions of alphabet agencies and the military. These are points in a mainstream film that only a few years later had Ron Paul accused of being anti-American for making in the GOP Presidential Nomination debates.

I’m not American, but the principle of human rights and all that that the US nominally represents is me. It’s not easy, but it’s right. This is a rare broad audience picture that grapples with these ideas directly.

Denzel - OK. Annette Benning - great. Bruce Willis - a bit tired.

Perhaps a director with more elegance than Ed Zwick would make this uneven thriller truly great, but his sincere belief in the American way courses through it, and I found it sort of inspiring. On the face of it it sounds something later on Mark Wahlberg would take on in the style of one of his “If only I were there” movies, but despite it being workmanlike, it makes two politically satisfying points: 1. if we accept martial law, then the terrorists have won, and 2. Terrorist attacks are very often predictable blowback from the actions of alphabet agencies and the military. These are points in a mainstream film that only a few years later had Ron Paul accused of being anti-American for making in the GOP Presidential Nomination debates.

I’m not American, but the principle of human rights and all that that the US nominally represents is me. It’s not easy, but it’s right. This is a rare broad audience picture that grapples with these ideas directly.

Denzel - OK. Annette Benning - great. Bruce Willis - a bit tired.

Denzel Washington could read the phone book and I’d still watch it.

Denzel Washington could read the phone book and I’d still watch it.

There’s never a bad Denzel performance

There’s never a bad Denzel performance