| FOLLOW THAT CAMEL : Breck Eisner's Sahara [6/10] |
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| Tuesday, 05 April 2005 | |
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Clive Cussler's 1992 doorstop of a page-turner reaches the screen as a unashamedly old-fashioned action-adventure extravaganza - a bit Indiana Jones here, a little Jason Bourne there, and just a dash of The Life Aquatic and (whisper it) Ishtar. Viewers who bother themselves about such issues as plausibility, coherence and restraint should stay away - but audiences in search of a daft, rambunctiously enjoyable night out at the movies will have little to grumble about by the time the credits roll. Matthew McConaughey is a rather risky choice as Cussler's fearless nautical-salvager/treasure-hunter hero Dirk Pitt, not least because his box-office record has been decidedly patchy. He was top-billed in The Newton Boys, EdTV and Reign of Fire, which were notable flops, and McConaughey has fared better as hunky second-banana in romantic comedies The Wedding Planner (opposite Jennifer Lopez) and Kate Hudson vehicle. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. And his female co-star Penelope Cruz isn't exactly commercial dynamite either, with the likes of Blow, Captain Corelli's Mandolin and All the Pretty Horses on her resume. As if this wasn't enough, directorial duties on the reportedly $130m Sahara were entrusted to Breck Eisner, who'd never been in charge of a feature and is best known for being the son of controversial Disney chief Michael Eisner. Accusations of nepotism aside, Eisner Jr actually does a pretty good job - especially given the "all hands on deck" history of the script. In a typically convoluted Hollywood formulation, it's credited to 'Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer and John C Richards and James V Hart - the "&" indicates two people working together, "and" means a separate rewrite. Pitt and his wisecracking sidekick Al Giordino (Steve Zahn) are searching for a Civil War iron-clad battleship off the west coast of Africa when they meet up with World Health Organisation medic Eva Rojas (Cruz). She's investigating a mysterious plague-like illness affecting villages on the Niger River, and before long Pitt and Rojas discover that their quests are taking them to near-identical destinations in the hazardous desert regions of Mali. But there are powerful, nefarious forces standing in their way... Cussler, perhaps still smarting from 1981's abortive Raise the Titanic (which featured Richard Jordan as Pitt) reportedly isn't at all happy with what Hollywood has done to his book. There's even talk of legal action over what the 73-year-old writer (he reckons "author" sounds too grand) reckons is a "bungled" screenplay. I haven't read the book, but from what I've heard Sahara the movie is a nippy condensation of Cussler's 576-page novel, and is also rather more upbeat and jaunty in tone: taking its tone from McConaughey's grinning, laid-back, surfer-dude persona, feelgood sixties and seventies rock dominate the soundtrack. Such bouncy tracks - from Steppenwolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grand Funk Railroad, etc - do sit slightly awkwardly, however, alongside Clint Mansell's eclectic, ethnic-sampling score. But this is indicative of a wider problem with Sahara - on the one hand it's a crazy romp, with all manner of unlikely high-jinks and shenanigans along the way. But as a backdrop the film (shot in Spain and Morocco) uses the genuinely painful plight of poverty-stricken Africa, ravaged by brute capitalism and seemingly endless wars. At the very least, it surely would have been better to come up with a made-up location rather than use Mali in such a manner. But perhaps I'm taking Sahara too seriously - this is essentially rollicking popcorn fare with a breezy, anti-authoritarian subcurrent. And Pitt and Giordino are distinctly anti-establishment for a pair of ex-Navy SEALS - "What would you do if you were about to be exposed as the worst polluter of modern times?" asks Pitt, a propos smarmy Bondmovie-ish villain Massard (typecast Lambert Wilson). Giordino's reply: "Run for President?" Neil Young 5th April, 2005 SAHARA : [6/10] : USA (UK-Spn-Ger-USA) 2005 : Breck EISNER : 124 mins (timed) seen at Odeon cinema, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), 4th April 2005 - press show |
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