Boasting an intriguing premise, a compelling ensemble and frequently crisp, handsome filmmaking, Mark Burman’s “Ambush” almost qualifies as an above-average Vietnam-era nailbiter — were it not for the hopelessly below-average performances contributed by the two actors whose names stand tallest in its credits block.
Aaron Eckhart and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, usually complex and appealing even in roles as small as these, play characters perched lazily outside the main story while Connor Paolo, Gregory Sims, Jason Genao and others do the narrative heavy lifting that remains after their more sellable co-stars cashed their paychecks.Nevertheless smarter and more entertaining than one might expect from a small-scale, outwardly familiar story like this, “Ambush” feels like a throwback — mostly in a good way — to the ‘Namsploitation films that companies like Cannon churned out in the 1980s, when stories about the war were at their most commercially popular.Paolo plays Cpl.
Ackerman, the educated
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