Collaborators

I love to see actors/actresses collaborate on film with people whom they have worked with on a previous project(s). But I especially enjoy seeing the duality in characterization that sometimes results.

For example, Bruce Willis and Cole Hauser are co-stars in Hart's War-a film in which they are both rather adamant in their belief of "racial inequality". Both Colonel McNamara and Sergeant Bedford are of the opinion that blacks are inherently inferior to whites. And therefore, they act accordingly. Even risking the success of their plot to escape by consorting with the enemy (germans), and employing the art of elaborate schemeing in order to rid themselves of their "pest" problem. Nice Huh?!?

But in Tears of the Sun, also starring Bruce Willis and Cole Hauser, both of these men play characters who start out as simple soldiers with a simple mission: Rescue Dr. Lena Kendricks from war-torn Nigeria. However, when the good doctor refuses to leave without her 30 or so Nigerian patients and a secret stowaway, these two characters are transformed into nothing less than heroes. Lt. Waters(Willis), who is known for his steadfast attention to duty, defies his orders to leave the refugees behind and flee to Cameroon with only the doctor. This decision ultimately has disasterious effects on the mission. And as for Mr. Hauser, who plays Red, he is transformed from a cold soldier with hot dreams of a long shore-leave, to a compassionate protector who pledges with all his resolve to get the refugees to the border or die trying.

A complete and utter shift in characters from the brutes we saw in Hart's War.