A tightly crafted courtroom drama covering an unlikely subject -- the advent of guerrilla tactics during the Boer War. Three Australian soldiers -- played masterfully by Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, and Lewis Fitz-Gerald -- are court-martialed for the murder of enemy prisoners and a German missionary. Based on a true story, Beresford's film makes skillful use of flashback and multiple points of view, all in service of a stirring story about the changing nature of warfare and the timeless practice of finding convenient scapegoats.

Harold Check