Review
SAHARA
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn and Penélope Cruz
Directed by Breck Eisner
Opens Friday, April 8
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There is a running gag in Sahara where Steve Zahn’s character, Al Giordino, keeps losing his hat. At the helm of a speeding yacht, his ball cap leaps from his head and Al scowls with dismay as he mutters, "My hat." Anyone who has seen Raiders of the Lost Ark will note the reference in this gag. It didn’t matter what was happening to good ol’ Indiana Jones, his hat never came off. That Al’s hat can’t stay on is just one of the more obvious pieces of evidence that Sahara is no Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Al plays sidekick to Matthew McConaughey’s Dirk Pitt. These longtime friends and undersea treasure hunters are taking time off from their day job to go trekking across Mali in hopes of satisfying Dirk’s obsession for Civil War gold. On the way they hook up with Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz), a representative from the World Health Organization who is trying to prevent the outbreak of a deadly plague. Of course things are never simple in adventures like this and the trio are soon on the run from a greedy French businessman, and a corrupt African dictator and his well-armed followers.
On the surface, Sahara has the appearance of being smarter than your average PG-13 action film. Combing the pseudo-history of treasure hunting with the high-tech gadgetry of marine exploration and the science of disease control gives the film the illusion of brains. So, when Eva has finished examining an infected corpse, why does she jam the contaminated surgical glove in the pocket behind the seat of her car instead of disposing of it safely? More importantly, why is a movie about marine enthusiasts set in a desert? Dirk says, "Everything good that has ever happened to me has happened on the water." I couldn’t help thinking how much more exciting that movie would have been.
Speculation aside, Sahara isn’t really a bad film, it’s just boring. The characters are likable enough, but the film doesn’t hit its stride until it’s about 15 minutes shy of its two-hour running time. The rest of the time it fails to take advantage of the sprawling landscape, the epic action set pieces and Zahn’s comic timing. I guess the one good thing that came out of Sahara, depending on which tabloid you read, was that McConaughey got himself a few dates with Cruz. I guess being executive producer does have its advantages, even on a film like this. |
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