| Rating
| R
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| Director
| Simon West
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| Featuring
| John Cusack, John Malkovitch, Ving Rhames
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| Overall
| Nick
| Acting
| Directing
| Story
| Charm
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| I have to say that while I do like action films, they generally don't qualify as my idea of a quality movie. ConAir is one of my few exceptions. This film centers around Cameron Poe (Cage), an ex-army Ranger who is sent to jail after killing a man who threatened him with a knife. Seven or so years later, Poe is paroled and hitches a ride home on a plane full of dangerous criminals being transferred. All he wants to do is get home to his wife and daughter (who he has never seen), but the convicts hijack the plane. To make matters worse, Poe's friend who is also on the plane is a diabetic who will die if he doesn't get insulin. Of course it's up to Poe to save the day.
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| I think the concept for this film is pretty original as action movies go and it manages to keep out of most standard action movie traps (unarmed man suffers only paper cut over eyebrow after defeating s battalion armed with automatic weapons, stupid one-liners, etc.) I was pleased to hear some genuinely witty lines, though I thought some of the gags were a taken a bit too far (as in jokes about a stuffed rabbit Poe got for his daughter. The first time the bunny was threatened, it was funny. Later when another bad guy holds a gun to the bunny's head, it wasn't). Since this is an action movie, the only real acting credit goes to John Cusack as a Federal Marshall trying to bring the plane down without violence. I thought he was great. Dave Chapelle, with a smaller part as one of the convicts, was funny for the time he was onscreen. None of the other actors really had an opportunity to stretch their wings, but they did their best with the opportunities they were given. The only real complaint I have about this movie was the string of cliches that I didn't think were necessary. Among the convicts are an intellectual psychopath (Malkovitch), a militant black terrorist (Rhames), and a Silence-of-the-Lambs-esque lunatic (Steve Buscemi). Need comic relief? Throw in a fruity transvestite. There was even a cops-and-donuts gag. But I'm willing to forgive the formulaic nature of more peripheral elements of the film in light of the big picture.
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As far as holes in the plot, there were surprisingly few. At one point Poe doesn't even flinch when he's shot in the arm, but I've been told (by somewhat unreliable sources) that Rangers can be capable of doing that, especially when they're really pumped up on adrenaline as Poe was. I'm not sure whether or not I believe that, but I'm willing to let it slide. I'm also wondering how Cusack's character is able to make a trip in a car much faster than an airplane, but since I don't know anything about cars, planes, or the routes they took, I'll acknowledge that it might be possible. Another note I'd like to make is that I thought the music in this film was great, including "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd (which always makes me want to dance like Forrest Gump). ConAir was a fun movie to watch and gets extra point for being one of the few smart films in its genre.
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