Sahara

Thoughts:

Afterthoughts:

Um...National Treasure? Saw it. Ironclads? Saw that, too, and even wrote a report on it. Matthew McConaughey as Indiana Jones? Not frelling likely.

Okay. That said, this movie could be fun. Hey, I TOLD you I liked popcorn movies. The fact that this movie sounds like a rip-off of every desert-faring adventure flick ever conceived is immaterial (I'm studying for the GRE, so I"m trying to exercise my vocabulary a bit. Hee!). Most of the characters sound rather snarky and I'm all for that. It looks fast-paced so, hopefully, I won't have time to remember what movie that last bit was lifted from. Most importantly, it has the one element that makes an adventure flick fun and exciting. No, not Matthew McConaughey without a shirt on, but I bet that's in there, too. The correct answer is C: lots of stuff that goes boom. Hollywood seems to like that. Gee, I wonder why.

Four guys had a hand in writing the screenplay, which is not a good sign in tv or movies, so that has me a bit worried. Penelope Cruz isn't my tenth, let alone my first, pick for actress of the year, so I'm not looking forward to hearing her whiny voice for 2 hours. However, even if Matthew McConaughey's character isn't cocky in an arrogant-but-vulnerable kind of way...even if Steve Zahn is his usual annoying self...even if Penlope Cruz is whiney...there is hope. There is HOPE in the form of...

*cue John Williams-esque trumpet/french horn fanfare*

William H. Macy. The man is a master. He's fun to watch and I trust in his taste in screenplays. If anyone can make this movie watchable, it's him.

Hee! That was fun!

Okay, so there are some plot holes big enough to drive trucks through. Example: The ironclad's weapons still work after an Atlantic voyage and a hundred years in the desert? Suuuure. Whatever you say, hoss. The scary and interesting part of that is that you don't care about the plot holes and piles of coincidences. The three male leads are such a riot and the movie is so much fun that you just say "I'll go with it." Lots of stuff goes boom! What more do you need?

You can't spit and not hit a cliche as the plot progresses. You have the evil corporate mogul in cahoots with the doubly evil African general-cum-dictator both out to do in the good guys. There's the prerequisite danger to the entire world if the heroes fail. There's the damsel in distress who is a gorgeous doctor (side note: someone get Penelope Cruz a pizza. The girl is positively anorexic-looking.). The good guys are former military who can time it just right so that a cigar belonging to their former-CO-turned-boss can blow up a boat AND the baddies chasing them down the river. After they bail out, of course. Right. Whatever. Just go with it.

The Indiana Jones stereotype doesn't quite work for this movie. It's more in the vein of The Mummy with the would-you-like-some-bullets-with-your-banter? attitude. You'd think that it would get old after a while, but it really doesn't. There are some moments where you know the quip is coming, but you still laugh out loud when it arrives. The writing is witty and they picked the right leading men to pull it off. We know Steve Zahn is good with banter and playing the second banana. That's a no-brainer. I haven't really seen Matthew McConaughey in a buddy movie before, but he is great at the smooth wit without stealing the show. And William H. Macy. The man was in Mystery Men, for crying out loud! The guy can play the straight man in his sleep. Any director is lucky to have him.

My Advice:

It's a fun ride on a Saturday afternoon. It's made to play on a big screen, so it's worth a matinee and popcorn. If you have a mega-huge widescreen TV and a sweet sound system, you could justify putting it off until it's released on DVD, but I wouldn't advise that for the rest of us mere mortals.

Oh yeah, and you do get to see Matthew McConaughey without a shirt on. Numerous times. Hee!

(Never fear, fellas. Penelope Cruz wears a too-tight tank top for the last half of the movie, so you won't feel left out.)