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Flight of the Phoenix
Not A Completely Successful Rise From The Ashes

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto, Hugh Laurie, Jared Padalecki, Tyrese Gibson, Sticky Fingaz
Director: John Moore
Screenwriters: Scott Frank, Edward Burns

Reviewed by Dawn Capp

Flight of the Phoenix shows why no one should ever make a comment about crashing just before stepping onto a plane. A remake of the 1965 movie of the same name, this modern version doesn't tell the story nearly as well. Starring Dennis Quaid as Captain Frank Towns, the hardened, apathetic captain of a doomed airplane, the film starts out with a catchy and upbeat musical intro but wastes no time getting to the action. Unfortunately, that well-orchestrated intro is one of the film's most endearing assets. The movie, much like the plane, goes downhill from there.

"So Miranda... do you think you can get me Frodo's autograph?"

Towns picks up the crew of an oil rig, plus one pseudo-hitchhiker by the name of Elliott (Giovanni Ribisi), a somewhat mysterious and nerdy outsider who turns out to be indispensable when the plane crashes in the middle of the desert. Fortunately, Elliott designs airplanes for a living, and he tells the group of stranded passengers that, with their help, he can rebuild a working airplane using the parts from the damaged craft.

Ribisi gives an impressive performance, but unfortunately his character suffers from a woeful lack of development. In fact, many of the characters, including the sole female lead, are virtually cardboard. Screenwriter Scott Frank obviously had difficulty fleshing out an ensemble cast.

Although this film had the potential to take viewers on a suspenseful, action-packed, two-hour ride, it suffers from amateurish plot holes and a cascade of misfortunes that stretches believability. Sandstorms erupt whenever most inconvenient, lightning strikes at the worst time, and as if all that weren't enough, violent nomadic arms smugglers crash the party.

As for the plot holes, they are as deep and numerous as the sand dunes in the movie. For example, when stuck in a dessert with severely limited water and almost no chance of rescue, and it begins to rain, it would seem probable that one person out of a group of over half a dozen would think to set up a container or two to catch the nice raindrops.

Even more laughable, toward the end when the crew stands around their newly-constructed aircraft, christened the Phoenix, apparently moments from salvation, they decide instead to brawl amongst themselves and quibble violently over the mysterious Elliott's professional qualifications instead of, oh say, having someone hop into the cockpit and find out once and for all whether the Phoenix will fly. Really, it's never good to conduct a job interview in 120-degree whether, especially when water is low, sandstorms erupt at every possible, inopportune moment, and no one has any sunscreen.

If you're inclined to see Flight of the Phoenix, catch a matinee or wait until it's on DVD. Two hours of sand isn't worth your $10.

Rating:

(2 1/2 out of 4 stars)

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