Sahara Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)April 26th, 2005
SAHARA
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Is SAHARA, which plays like a really bad parody of an Indiana Jones movie, cheesy fun or just cheesy? Just cheesy.
A badly miscast Matthew McConaughey, yucks it up as Dirk Pitt, an action hero made famous in a long series of Clive Cussler's novels, of which my son is a big fan. McConaughey's Dirk is a broadly comedic Indiana Jones wannabe with James Bond skills but none of either character's charms.
Penélope Cruz, who manages to lose most of her good looks, which is her chief attribute as an actress, plays the movie's token female, Eva Rojas. Eva is a World Health doctor tracking down a deadly virus, while Dirk and Al Giordino, Dirk's comedic sidekick, are trying to locate an 1865 Confederate ironclad ship lost in the middle of the Sahara desert -- don't ask. Always reliable Steve Zahn plays Al, but poor Zahn is stuck with lots of odoriferous dialog, including, "I'll find the bomb. You get the girl," and "I'm so tired of being shot at!"
In order to divert our attention from the sheer awfulness of the picture, the rock sound track, with off the wall tunes like "Sweet Home Alabama," is cranked up to nearly ear puncturing level. Bring earplugs.
SAHARA runs way too long at 2:07. It is rated PG-13 for "action violence" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, April 8, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
