CON AIR
A film review by Fred M. Hung
Copyright 1997 Fred M. Hung
When the Bruckheimer/Simpson team brought Crimson Tide to the screen back in 1995, I was incredibly surprised. I had previously associated the duo with such popcorn successes as Top Gun and Days of Thunder. Never did I expect a clever and taught thriller that challenged the audience with theoretical dilemmas as well as entertained with gripping drama. When The Rock emerged in 1996, again, I was impressed by the charismatic chemistry between Connery and Cage, in addtion to the awesome performance of the misled anti-villain like Ed Harris' Gen. Hummel.
After the death of Simpson, Bruckheimer ventures alone (you can tell by the slightly modified lightning intro that marks each of their films) with his entry into the summer season, CON AIR, with Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, and John Cusack. Cage is a US Army Ranger wrongfully imprisoned. Unluckily, on day of his parole he finds himself on a hijacked plane filled with the Justice Department's most wanted.
Simply put, to the extent that a film's purpose is to entertain, Con Air accomplishes just that -- and no more. Many of the current Bruckheimer/Simpson patents are present, including the news footage of military action to start, the very Hans Zimmer-ish score by Mark Mancina, and a script that again seems edited by Tarantino. Since the script does not offer much range within the protagonists, Cage comes off competent, as does Cusack. Cage's character, Sgt. Cameron Poe, is almost caricature -- terse, deadly, but at heart a family man. Cusack's Deputy Marshal Larkin, however, is basically Cusack with gun.
Malkovich, however, is underused. While certainly capable of so much more (refer to In the Line of Fire, Dangerous Liasons, and the Killing Fields), Malkovich is just having fun in his maniacal portrayal of Cyrus "the Virus." To his credit, the image of Malkovich holding Cage's bunny hostage will should go down in the annals of film history as one of the funniest hostage moments ever. Unfortunately, much of these clever moments are eclipsed by pyrotechnics.
Buscemi steals the show in his limited moments. It is difficult to describe accurately his role, a sort of Shakespearean narrative clown crossed with Hannibal Lecter. His presense in the film is nonetheless ambitious as the screenwriters remind us that all is in good fun.
The action is solid. Bruckheimer and company are geniuses when combining testosterone soundtracks, TNT, and intense close ups. In a way, expectation may be Con Air's greatest enemy. The audience is already expecting high explosions, chases, and mounting body counts. Although Con Air delivers adequately all these, in the end one might leave somewhat anti-climatic. After all, how thrilling is it to put on a familiar pair of old shoes?
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