In about a month, I will be going on a Catholic pilgrimage that will take me to Rome and Medjugorje.  This latter location, if you are not already familiar with it, is where the Virgin Mary has been appearing since 1981 to a small group living in a Bosnian-Herzegovinian village.  There have been other miracles attributed to the site, such as the sun going in retrograde, a phenomenon shared with other Marian apparitions like that at Fatima in Portugal.  I am excited about this trip, so please pray for me.  If you have anything you would like me to offer up for you, please feel free to leave a message in the comments.  This is what this part of the world has become known for, but this was not always the case.  How many of you remember the former Yugoslavia?  In 1991, in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, war began as the disparate ethnicities held together by the so-called Soviet republic fought each other for dominance and/or independence.  It was a gruesome conflict that saw ethnic cleansing and the eventual intervention of military forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).  You would not realize it today (so I am told) from places like Medjugorje, but if you want a refresher . . . maybe do your own research instead of watching Behind Enemy Lines (2001).

The first clue that something is amiss with Behind Enemy Lines is that this action flick stars Owen Wilson as Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Chris “Longhorn” Burnett.  He would not have been my first choice for the role, but his performance is adequate.  We first see him in the cockpit of an F/A-18F Super Hornet, on which he serves as the navigator for the pilot, Naval Aviator Lieutenant Jeremy “Smoke” Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht).  Before they take off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, their mission is scrubbed.  The two officers are annoyed, and Lieutenant Burnett drowns his frustrations by punting a football over the Adriatic Sea using the ship’s catapult system.  While voicing other complaints about the nature of their activities in the region, he is summoned to Rear Admiral Leslie McMahon’s (Gene Hackman) office, commander of the American fleet in the area.  Lieutenant Burnett believes he is about to chewed out for his stunt with the ball, but instead he has been called to answer for his letter of resignation.  He goes on to list off the same grievances we had just heard him say only to have Rear Admiral McMahon respond by telling the junior officer that younger man does not understand the privilege of being a Naval pilot.  While Lieutenant Burnett remains firm in his desire to leave, Rear Admiral McMahon informs him that he will be expected to maintain a high level of excellence in the pursuit of his duties in his remaining two weeks.  This means that Lieutenants Burnett and Stackhouse are assigned reconnaissance duty on Christmas Day.  As they are on patrol, Lieutenant Burnett’s radar picks up a signal in the demilitarized zone in a place where such signals should not be heard.  Their investigation reveals a unit of a Serbian paramilitary group.  Those on the ground contact their leader, General Miroslav Lokar (Olek Krupa), who orders that the American fighter jet be brought down.  Following an intense bit of aerial acrobatics, one of the two missiles fired at the F/A-18F hits and Lieutenants Burnett and Stackhouse are forced to eject.  While Lieutenant Burnett makes it to the ground relatively unscathed, Lieutenant Stackhouse’s leg is hurt, rendering him immobile.  The latter tells the former to go to high ground where Lieutenant Burnett can use his radio.  While this takes place, the Serbian forces locate Lieutenant Stackhouse.  With his navigator watching through binoculars, General Miroslav’s personal hitman, Sasha Ivanic (Vladimir Mashkov), summarily executes the pilot.  Lieutenant Burnett’s startled cry gives away his position and now the chase has begun.  Sasha requests that he be sent alone, while the soldiers want the honor of hunting the American.  General Lokar tells both to go.  After making contact with Rear Admiral McMahon, Lieutenant Burnett is ordered to make it to one of the pre-designated rally points.  Along the way, while dodging Sasha’s poorly aimed sniper rifle, and bullets shot by Serbians, Lieutenant Burnett stumbles upon a mass grave.  It is evidence of the ethnic cleansing mentioned in the introduction.  Though he is forced to hide there for a moment, he eventually gets to where he is supposed to be rescued.  This is aborted at the last moment when Admiral Juan Miguel Piquet (Joaqium de Almeida) puts a stop to the mission, saying that it will endanger the peace.  Once more, Lieutenant Burnett is on the run, this time directed to a village where guerilla forces are combatting General Lokar’s men.  Despite being among nominally friendly people, they are overrun by the Serbians.  Lieutenant Burnett avoids detection by swapping out his uniform for a Serbian one.  The Serbians find the body with Lieutenant Burnett’s clothes on it, and proclaim that they have killed the American.  The only thing it has managed to kill is the NATO approved rescue attempt, which Lieutenant Burnett watches fly away from where he had been supposed to meet them.  As the helicopter flees, he notices in the hills nearby an angel statue he had earlier flown over.  Behind it is located the ejection seat from the F/A-18F, which contains a signal that will let the world know he is alive, and evidence of Serbian atrocities (even though they did not show the mass grave being filmed in flight).  The seemingly magical Sasha tracks Lieutenant Burnett to this spot, though the American sets a trap for the Serbian.  General Lokar’s soldiers are able to make their way to this location because they can hear Lieutenant Burnett’s beacon.  They get there just as Rear Admiral McMahon in one of three helicopters come to pick up their pilot, who manages to make it out with the incriminating data.

There is a postscript to Behind Enemy Lines, which talks about what happened to the principal players after these events. This is done because, though the names have been changed, the film is loosely based on a true story.  What is looser is the camera work, which threatened to give me a headache as it jostled and spun around at several moments.  What is also annoying is the thin pickings there are to be gleaned from this film in terms of bringing you a Catholic analysis.  I wish I could tell you that there is a moment at the end when Lieutenant Burnett thanks God for his miraculous survival, or that he prayed for it in the interim.  It would have been in keeping with other happenings in the area that I discussed in the introduction.  There is one part to which I was drawn, and it is when Rear Admiral McMahon is lecturing Lieutenant Burnett on the responsibilities of being in the military.  One thing the armed forces and the Catholic Church share is that everyone has a role to play in the day-to-day operations of the organization.  I almost hesitated to use that last word because when talking about Catholicism, it is more accurate to say the Body of Christ.  That is the Church, and it is backed up by scripture, as in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.  In it, St. Paul uses the metaphor of the body to explain how every part has a vital function to the whole.  Further, one aspect should not say that it is better than another, or that it wishes to change positions.  This leads to disruptions, and goes against God’s ultimate plan for us.  This sort of idea is what Lieutenant Burnett is wrestling with early in the movie.  He does not understand what he, or the rest of the fleet, is doing in this part of the world, and therefore wants to go somewhere he believes he will be of better use.  While there is some nobility in this attitude, it is more focused on his needs instead of those of the greater good.  Those above him in the chain of command, like Rear Admiral McMahon, see the broader scope of how a person with Lieutenant Burnett’s assets can be employed.  God sees the totality of our lives, past, present, and future, and it is better to rely on Him.

Understanding our place in the bigger picture does not need to come while trying to evade capture like in Behind Enemy Lines.  Besides, there is no reason to watch this movie.  It is not necessarily objectionable, just difficult to watch on a number of levels.  Instead, you could better employ your time in prayer in trying to hear God’s voice in your life.