Sahara

April 10, 2005

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 127 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Sahara is the instant pudding of action films. You take all of the ingredients of a good action adventure film, stir them together and serve ‘em up. The result is not going to compare with a good chocolate mousse of a movie, like say Raiders of the Lost Ark. But it’ll still be a crowd pleaser at the dinner table.

Sahara The unlikely plot here is a couple of ex-Navy SEALS who now do underwater salvage are led to the Sahara desert to look for a lost Civil War ironclad. Yeah, you read that right, civil war, ironclad, sahara desert. Stay with me here. Our hero is Matthew McConaughey, who I hate reviewing because I keep having to double check how to spell his last name. But I digress. To make a proper adventure movie pudding, we also need a sidekick, Steve Zahn gets the call here. Zahn is one of those guys who has a knack for playing characters you’d like to smack.

Along the way they meet up with the obligatory damsel in distress, another key ingredient of our adventure pudding. Our damsel is played by the lovely Penelope Cruz, who unfortunately stays very clothed, though they do throw us a bone with one bikini scene. Cruz’s character is tracking a plague in the same area when our boys rescue her.

Ok, got that? We have a convoluted plot, a hero, sidekick and damsel in distress. What else do we need? Well, all we need to do is add some guns, explosions, fights and some villains to use them on. Then we stir and serve it up. And serve it up they do.

Sahara gets 3 stars from us, though it was only a couple of bare breasts or chuckles away from that 4th star. Yes, it’s a bit disjointed, formulamatic and totally predictable. But it is exactly what it advertises itself to be and a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 3 Stars, Action, Lambert Wilson, Matthew McConaughey, PG-13, Penelope Cruz, Steve Zahn, Theatrical, William H. Macy