Sahara (7/10)

by Tony Medley

I ran into a friend last night who thanked me for recommending “Bride and Prejudice,” adding that she liked “mindless movies.” I do, too, and that’s why I liked “Sahara,” which is as mindless as they come, but it’s fun and entertaining. It’s sort of James Bondish without the ridiculous special effects.

Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey, who is a much more appealing superhero than Pierce Brosnan who continued the disappointing replacements for Sean Connery as James Bond), the protagonist in Clive Cussler’s adventure novels is looking for a Civil War ironclad that he thinks somehow ended up in the African desert. He’s joined by his lifelong buddy, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn) as they convince their boss, Admiral James Sandecker (William H. Macy) to allow them to take a three day leave from their jobs working for Sandecker’s organization, NUMA (The National Underwater and Marine Agency) which is a private organization that circles the glove searching for lost and buried artifacts, mostly in the oceans of the world. Along the way they meet Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz), a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor, who is trying to find out what is causing a mysterious, plague-like illness that’s felling a lot of the natives. Into the mix pops Yves Massarde (Lambert Wilson), a slick frenchy who’s working for a corrupt dictator, General Zateb Kazim (Lennie James), the guy responsible for the bad water that’s killing the people Eva is trying to save.

Unfortunately, Dirk’s search for the submarine is given short shrift as he becomes involved in Eva’s quixotic quest. The script (four names are given credits; God knows how many people actually contributed to what became a mish-mash) quickly zeroes in on Eva’s search for the cause of the illness and the corrupt Kazim and Yves. Unfortunately, they click issues, like a United Nations program (WHO) and pollution of the water supply which could destroy the entire world, none of which have anything to do with the search for a Civil War era ironclad in the African desert. It’s just too much. What’s wrong with concentrating on an interesting idea, like the ironclad ending up in the Sahara desert? The idea that two WHO doctors could torpedo Kazim’s evil plan is silly. You won’t believe the firepower Kazim sets in motion to try to find and kill them.

The film was shot on location in Morocco, whose government cooperated to the extent of leasing the production three tanks, 10 armored personnel carriers, and Huey helicopters, basically an entire armored division. The cinematography (Seamus McGarvey) of the mysterious desert is good, as are the stunts. The script is weak but the buddy chemistry between  McConaughey and Zahn makes up for its shortcomings. The film is directed by Michael Eisner’s son, Breck, and he exhibits a deft talent for the comedic-action genre.

Despite the silly plot lines and the too long 2 hour, seven minute running time, I enjoyed it, mainly because of McConaughey and Zahn.

April 8, 2005