Starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Rachel Ticotin, Colm Meaney. Directed by Simon West. Written by Scott Rosenberg
A vietnam vet (Cage) with special lethal skills courtesy of Uncle Sam, returns home to his wife and accidentally kills a loud mouth redneck who was hassling him and his lovely pregnant bride. He is sent to prison, and after 7 long years, he is put aboard a prisoner plane to go home and see his wife and as yet unmet young daughter. But wouldn't you know it -- his plane just happens to be the one where the baddest of the bad are being transferred to a high security prison. The prisoners led by John Malkovitch, doing his now familiar cold and soulless psychopath, hijack the plane and make their way towards Mexico. A young U.S. Marshall (Cusack) trys to track the plane and bring it down safely to help save Cage and the innocent guards on board, while an arrogant government agent (Meaney) endeavours to shoot it down. If you've seen the trailers for the movie, you know it all ends with the plane making a forced landing in the lobby of the Desert Sands in Las Vegas.
For a change, the filmakers have hired first-rate actors that don't cost $20 million. As such, they were able to pay for a witty and energetic script. There are no weak links in the cast. Cage is pumped up and excellent. Cusack is funny and charming. Malkovich personifies cold evil. Buscemi never raises his voice, but is chilling as a Hannibal Lector type of serial killer. Rhames is a highlight whenever he's on screen. Meaney lives up to his name showing uncharacteristic ruthlessness. The movie takes time to develop many of the characters. The biggest flaw is that at times, especially in the Las Vegas crash and its aftermath, the action and explosions are ay too excessive -- just too many people and things blowing up. Also, credibility is often stretched too far. At one point, we are supposed to believe about 15 cons can pull a huge plane that had just crashed out from under the sand, and then have it in perfect working order to be able to take off. But plot believability is not why we go to see action blockbusters. So, overall, this is very entertaining, well-written and well-acted action film.
The film was reported to cost $70 million, which is modest compared to Lost World ($75 million) and Speed 2 ($120 million). While massive box office returns for these action cartoons can be enough to justify these obsene price tags, paying excessive amounts for these types of movies suck needed dollars away from smaller, more artisticly worthy films. This is why none of the Hollywood Studios made Fargo, Secrets and Lies, Emma, Lone Star, The English Patient and other recent quality (and often financially successful) films. Independent filmakers have to beg, borrow and sell their first-borns to scrape the money to make thoughtful, complex and literate films, because the major studios blow their wad on the big blow-ups. Perhaps the creation of more studios like Alliance in Canada, and New Line and Miramax in the U.S. is the answer.
