Stato d'assedio

I wasn't that eager to watch IN THE LINE OF DUTY SIEGE AT MARON because after all it has 5,6 and only review but since I am an expert on these movies I saw it last May and while I didn't agreed with the other review I still liked it for what it is.

When the film begins FBI agent Bob Bryant (Dennis Franz) is sent in Utah for arresting both Adam and Jonathan Swapp because they are suspected in the bombing of a Mormon center. But this won't be easy because the brothers, their family and all the other families in the zone will take a hold-up on their zone with enough provisions and ammunitions for surving the government's siege, and they will stand up for their rights until the end.

I agreed with the only other review only on the fact that in some points the pace was slow but at least the acting was decent by all (Franz, Ed Begley and William Macy especially) and the ending was kind of unexpected. If you stumble upon it on YouTube give it a try also because it's based on situations that can happen in any moment in real life.

I haven't seen this movie since it was first shown on television, thus my memory is hazy. It concerns a small group of Mormon fundamentalists who run afoul of both their less extremist Mormon neighbors and the local sheriff. Disputing issues like polygamous marriage, home schooling and water rights, the situation escalates over a period of time into open warfare, with the catalyst for the final confrontation being the bombing of the local Mormon Stake Center (i.e. church) by the fundamentalists, who hole up at their family farm.

The F.B.I., led by Dennis Franz, is called in as this is now beyond the control of the local authorities and a Waco-like siege ensues. Frustrated, and unable to make any headway in negotiations, an assault is finally ordered, resulting in the capture of the renegade group but also in the death of a police officer.

This was not a particularly good movie as the buildup to the final confrontation lacked a sense of drama or inevitability. We feel no empathy for any of the characters except for the policeman who is killed, as he gave his life over what should have been a minor affair that spun out of control because of stupidity masquerading as religious debate. The fundamentalist group takes most of the blame here.

Dennis Franz's character tries to be sympathetic, but not being a Mormon, or even particularly religious, he clearly fails to understand what this is all about. Having written this, I am surprised at the parallels between this incident and the later standoff at Waco, Texas.