TURBULENCE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 2.5 Alternative Scale: * out of ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 1/10/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:40 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Ray Liotta, Lauren Holly, Hector Elizondo, Ben Cross,
Catherine Hicks, Rachel Ticotin, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Robert Butler
Screenplay: Jonathan Brett
Cinematography: Lloyd Ahern, II
Music: Shirley Walker
U.S. Distributor: MGM
It's an unfortunate thing to start off the 1997 movie season on such a low note. As disaster films go, TURBULENCE is representative of the kind of mindless, lifeless nonsense that makes bloated thrillers like Stallone's DAYLIGHT seem brilliant by comparison. Of course, with a bad movie of this sort, it's always possible to argue that it can be fun if approached in the right frame of mind. And, indeed, there are numerous instances when watching TURBULENCE is more akin to viewing a parody like AIRPLANE! than any of the numerous, supposedly-straight AIRPORT movies.
Often with bottom-of-the-barrel cinema, it's possible to make the case that a decent premise has been ruined by poor execution. Not here. TURBULENCE was a bad idea from the start, and the film makers continued to make mistakes all the way through -- from casting and scripting to editing and special effects. Even the release was mishandled. This is clearly a Christmas movie (all the decorations and tunes offer a none- too-subtle hint of this), yet, because MGM feared it would get lost in the December blitz, they delayed its opening by several weeks. All things considered, I doubt the box office results will be significantly different.
Most of the action in TURBULENCE takes place (no surprises here) on a plane. It's a 747 Christmas Eve flight bound from New York's JFK Airport to LAX. There are seventeen people on board: the pilot and co- pilot, four flight attendants, five "regular" passengers, four Federal Marshals, and two convicts. The prisoners are an uncouth bank robber named Stubbs (Brendan Gleeson) and a suave, cultured serial killer, Ryan Weaver (Ray Liotta). For a little while, the movie pretends that Ryan is an enigma, and hints that he might not be guilty, but, since he's being played by veteran psycho Ray Liotta, we know it's only a matter of time before he snaps.
Through a series of amazing contrivances, the pilot and co-pilot end up dead, and, with the 747 plunging into a dangerous storm, Ryan is chasing around one of the flight attendants, Teri Halloran (Lauren Holly), who eventually holes up in the cockpit to try to land the plane. Everyone else on board is either conveniently dead or locked in an out- of-the-way-place where they won't interfere with the amazingly inept interaction between the two leads.
TURBULENCE exceeds any reasonable limit placed on suspension of disbelief. The film is littered with hard-to-swallow implausibilities. If landing a 747 is this easy, why is it hard to find trained pilots? If the two prisoners are so dangerous, why send them with only four guards, and why on an aircraft with passengers? And how does Ryan manage to survive being slugged on the head by a nearly-full fire extinguisher? (I know -- all serial killers in this genre are like cats with nine lives.)
On top of all that, even if you manage to swallow the plot, you still have to deal with some of the worst dialogue around today, much of which is delivered at the most inappropriate moments. As the plane is plunging into the heart of the storm, Teri and Ryan have a little chat. He asks her what her favorite movie is (GONE WITH THE WIND), what her favorite book is (GONE WITH THE WIND again), how old she was when she first had sex (18 1/2), and whether she enjoyed it (yes). Any palpable tension drains away as these two babble incessantly in the empty cabin.
There are more problems with TURBULENCE, but I think I've made the point by now. Considering how many solid leftovers from 1996 are still in theaters, I can't think of a reason why anyone would subject themselves to this offering. Unless, that is, you're looking for cheesy special effects and a miscast Lauren Holly playing action heroine. At least it's not hard to understand why they called this TURBULENCE -- it really is nauseating.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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