IN THE LINE OF DUTY: AMBUSH IN WACO (1993) *1/2 For a film allegedly based on fact, they sure manage to miss a lot of main ones. Yes David Koresh was a nut, and yes many of his followers paid the ultimate stupidity tax by dying with him in their compound in Waco, Texas. But looniness and stupidity are not, in and of themselves, criminal offenses, nor, for that matter, do they disqualify one from political office or membership in the security services. Obviously. So where did all of the cult's cash come from? Film never touches it. What about all those rumours that the ATF and FBI started-but then either admitted were fabricated or just left dangling-like Koresh was a child molester and a methamphetamine lab operator, and had threatened violence that would make the L.A. riots "pale in comparison"? The film assumes the molestation charges as proved, and ignores the ones admitted to be lies, or disproved by investigators. The film is an absolute whitewash of law enforcement, failing to portray our tax money at work blaring the sound of rabbits being slaughtered (and Nancy Sinatra) at the huddled masses in the compound, and refusing to provide the children of the besieged group milk; and fails to even address the accepted fact that the first of the government casualties, and perhaps all of them, were victims of "friendly fire." So the film dances the fine line between overt propaganda and unimaginative fiction. Within that framework Timothy Daly does an interesting job with Koresh, presenting him as something of an uninspired but malevolent Jim Morrison figure. Doesn't do much to explain why anyone stayed, but I can't figure out why anyone voted for Clinton, either.
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