Sandy Shenanigans (Sahara (DVD))

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	Sahara (DVD)
Date:	26/11/08 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Mildly entertaining, lots of action

Disadvantages: Rubbish, incoherent plot, disinterested actors,

Sahara is clearly one of those films that studios occasionally tentatively float out in the hope of creating a money-spinning franchise with lots of lovely sequels. Since it's based on the Dirk Pitt series of novels from Clive Cussler, if Sahara succeeded, there was already a wealth of instantly available storylines available to rush into production. Unfortunately for Paramount, whilst they produced an adequate film, it was never really going to set the world alight.

It's impossible even to begin explaining the plot to Sahara, not because it's incredibly complex, but because it doesn't make a whole heap of sense. Apparently, it's something to do with Dirk Pitt trying to trace a civil war ship made from metal that no-one else believes exists. On the way, they get involved in local power struggles and a conspiracy involving toxic waste and the poisoning of the local water supply. How these all relate to each other, or why we should care is, frankly a mystery to me.

So, it's Strike One for Sahara: unintelligible plot.

As you can probably guess from that brief summary, Sahara tries to throw a whole lot at the screen in the hopes that somehow it will all work out for the best in the end. Some of the material sticks and produces bits of action or sequences that are well put together and worth watching, some of it doesn't. The trouble is, Sahara throws so much at the screen, that it never really fits together as a cohesive whole. Individually, there are bits which work well, but taken as a whole, it ends up a bit of a dog's dinner.

Strike Two: no cohesion.

The same could also be said of the cast. Individually, there are some pretty fun performances, but some of the characters are bland, and your life would not be significantly worse had they been written out of the script (in fact, in some cases, it would be significantly better). Matthew McConaughey is just about adequate as adventurer Dirk Pitt, although he doesn't exactly throw himself into the role. McConaughey is one of those frustrating actors who, when he puts his mind to it, can be very charismatic and fun to watch. Sadly, he was clearly just doing Sahara to top up the bank balance and never really tries to to inject the necessary sense of adventure, spirit and derring-do that the role requires.. Considering Paramount were hoping this would be a franchise launcher, McConaughey's performance is curiously flat at times. He doesn't really help the film's cause at all. After all, if the lead actor can't be bothered engaging with the film, why should the audience?

Thankfully, there is a fun angle, ably provided by Steve Zahn. His slighty screwy turn as Pitt's friend and co-adventurer brings some life and much-needed levity to proceedings. His bickering, old-married couple relationship with Pitt brings plenty of humour to the situation, although Zahn has to work hard to deliver laughs for both himself and for the coasting McConaughey. At least he manages to bring some spark to the film, which is sadly lacking in the the other key actors.

Bringing up the rear (in more ways that one) is Penelope Cruz's utterly pointless and totally unconvincing WHO Doctor. Neither intelligent enough to convince as a medic, nor sparky enough to convince as an action heroine, she wanders around after Zahn and McConaughey, looking a little lost and was clearly cast merely for her pretty face. In fairness, she does have an underwritten role which does little other than require her to wear a tight vest top, but even then, I know clothes horses that could do this to better effect then Cruz does. Frankly this film could have survived without her.

As much of the film concentates on these three characters, few others get a look-in. William H Macy is utterly wasted as Admiral Sandecker, whilst the film also suffers from having two very dull villains. Neither of these men look like they could menace a small child who's already so scared he's widdled his pants, let alone keep an entire nation under control. Yet this is precisely what we're supposed to be believe. Again, in fairness, they are not helped by scripts but they really don't help their own cause by somehow confusing "boring" with "calculating" and "bland" with "evil". Clearly someone needs to buy these two actors a new dictionary for Christmas.

That's Strike Three: rubbish acting. Sahara: You're outta here.

Oh. Stop crying Sahara. Come here and I'll give you one last chance. Because on the plus side, whilst the plot doesn't make a great deal of sense, it does at least remember to build in plenty of action sequences, and these do generate some excitement. Helicopter battles, speedboat chases, car chases, gun battles. It's like someone opened up the Big Bumper Book of Exciting Stuff to do in Films, couldn't decide which one to pick, so thought they'd just throw them all in. It's a very scattergun approach, but it does have some benefits. The plot might be irrelevant and the characters in danger of inducing narcolepsy, but at least there's always something happening that keeps you mildly entertained.

In fact, it's probably this which saves Sahara from being a complete loss. There's always something being blown up, driven fast or crashing; there's always someone trying to escape from someone else; infiltrate something or other or discover a secret wotnot. It might not always be clear WHY these things are happening, but at least they make sure the film meets the action quotient to be at least mildly entertaining. Just like the rest of the film, though, whilst the action sequences are shot competently enough, they don't ever provide anything different.

In fact, that pretty much sums up Sahara. It doesn't do anything particularly badly, but then it doesn't do anything particularly well either. In the over-crowded Hollywood action film department, you've got to wow audiences with something really new, something audacious and something jaw-dropping if you have serious ambitions for launching a new franchise. After all, even that old-timer Indy failed in his comeback and that's clearly where Sahara wants to position itself: as the new Indy. It's entertaining enough for a single watch, but is ultimately damned to obscurity by its own mediocrity.

Basic Information
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Sahara
2005
Director: Breck Eisner
Running time: approx. 119 minutes
Certificate: 12

© Copyright SWSt 2008

Summary: Back to the drawing board for Dirk