SAHARA
Let's face it, there just will never be another Indiana Jones. Therefore, no one should even try; not even chick-magnet Matthew McConaughey. Normally I would enjoy a movie such as this on a Friday night. A simple popcorn flick with
guns and action, some comedy, and a helluva great adventure. I even like to suspend my disbelief for a couple of hours, (almost) no matter how far-fetched a scene can get. But I have to drawn a line in the sand somewhere, and that sand lies in the "Sahara."This is the story of two ex-marine turned treasure hunters (McConaughey & Zahn) looking for a long lost legendary civil war boat that carried....well, a treasure. On the way they are hooked up with a WHO doctor (Cruz) who is searching for a mysterious African plague. They just happen to be going to the same place, but unfortunately, the story is not. I mean, which is it? Are you looking for the boat or the disease? The entire story-line splits in two at the point of their hook-up, and never comes back together.
I can also suffer through a little predictability in films, but c'mon, I knew exactly what was going to happen minutes before it happened. Like the fact that this movie will flop at the box-office, as will the Cruz-McConaughey relationship that was super-fiscially spawned from their time together making this film.
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A few bright spots..yes, a few. The set directors and artists deserve a lot
of credit. I don't know how much of this was filmed on location, but the insides of buildings and caves and boats
were great. At one point, Dirk (McConaughey) enters an ancient library where the wise old "keeper of the scrolls"
helps him to find the information he is looking for. It never once crossed my mind that that place might not actually exist.
The chemistry between Zahn and McConaughey is there. They work well together,
and feed off of each other's energy and wit. Too bad the lady-interest in the film does not share that chemistry. I like Penelope
Cruz. She was fantastic in movies such as "Blow" and "Vanilla Sky." But she should stick to those drama-esque movies.
She's just not an action type of girl.
I'm gonna guess that most people are
not going to put this film in their top 500 list unless they are about 10 years old. Even then, the slow parts far out-weigh
the action sequences and take away from the pacing of the movie, which may be distracting for a kid. I'll give it a 5, but
I think most will want to bury their head in the sand.
Links:
Sahara at IMDB
Here's what Rotten Tomatoes has to say about it.
The official site
Click here to see what really happens in the Sahara
