Bruce Willis has made some questionable career choices lately, especially his recent soldier roles in 2002’s Hart’s War and this year’s Tears of the Sun (perhaps he will have more luck playing John McClane yet again in the just-announced Die Hard 4). His stoic acting style works for some roles, but in this film a show of any emotion would have really helped the plot along. Willis plays Lt. A.K. Waters, a battle-hardened Navy SEAL whose unit is assigned to extract an American-by-marriage doctor (Italian actress Monica Bellucci) from her makeshift village hospital in the middle of civil-war torn Nigeria. All goes according to plan until she refuses to leave unless the soldiers also help the villagers escape to the safety of nearby Cameroon. As a result, Waters and his men are forced to choose between doing their duty and doing “the right thing”.

Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) does a good job of showing the moral dilemma of soldiers thrust into a war that is not theirs. The graphic scenes of “ethnic cleansing” by the rebel army are truly horrifying and will certainly make for interesting post-movie discussions about whether nations like the U.S. should get involved in trying to stop mass killings that happen during other nations’ civil wars. However, Tears ultimately turns into yet another “U.S. saves the day” film, due to a very contrived storyline and only average acting. The film may bring you to tears in a few places, but overall its message rings hollow.