Dazzling Special Afflecks Forces of Nature
By Ross Anthony
Ben Affleck stares up at the camera as he's carried on the hands of his bachelor-partying friends. It's an upbeat opening to a movie comprised of one up-beat after another. DreamWorks takes a rather uninteresting plotline and makes a movie that moves around it.
Punchy grooving funk rocks the unlikely coupling (or is it?) of Bullock and Affleck as the latter contemplates his matrimonial promises. I loved the music even though it was set on 11 compared to the relatively civilized levels of the dialogue.
Seems Bullock on the set inspired the filmmakers to advance the picture along at the pace of "Speed." They were also diligent in the editing room, bringing humorous ironies to simple cuts.
Affleck and Bullock (who act up a storm) survive a plane wreck among other disasters, hooking up with Vic, a marvelously deranged side character for whom this fine exchange was written...
Bullock: "You got any kids?"
Vic: "No, but I see them all over."
Steven Vahn shows off his finesse as a stand-up, crack-up, best man. While DreamWorks shows off a few of it's not so natural-looking, but nonetheless dazzling special effects. A few decibels short of a thunderous ending, "Forces of Nature" will take you by storm anyway. You'll leave the theater doing the funky chicken to a hippy-hoppy version of Crosby, Stills and Nash "If you can't be with the one you love ... honey, love the one your with."
Starring Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck and Maura Tierney. Directed by Bronwen Hughes. Rated PG-13.
Grade.......................... A-
-- Copyright © 1999 Ross Anthony, currently based in Los Angeles, has scripted and shot documentaries, music videos, and shorts in 35 countries across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more reviews visit: http://RossAnthony.com
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