. AIR FORCE ONE
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1997 Christopher Null
When one sees Glenn Close portraying the vice-president, one begins to realize just how much she looks (and can act) like Gerald Ford.
Frankly, I was shocked to discover how much I liked AIR FORCE ONE. Yes, it has villainous Russians who can never see our good guy President (Harrison Ford) when he's hiding right in front of them (much less shoot him). Yes, it has Secret Service guys who die at the hand of the enemy like flies in a bug zapper. Yes, it has the cheesiest special effects this side of of a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon. Yes, it features a rambling Gary Oldman in one of his clearly improvised looney-tune terrorist/psychopath roles. I could go on and on...
But I won't. Instead, I'll tell you that AIR FORCE ONE (DIE HARD on a plane with a President on it, thus distinguishing it from DIE HARD II, PASSENGER 57, and EXECUTIVE DECISION) is a spellbinding film, one that grips the viewer from the very start and doesn't let up until 140 minutes later, plot holes or no. It also may be the funniest movie I've seen all year -- and I still can't figure out if it was intentional or not!
And I don't care. AIR FORCE ONE has great action, a good story, and once you get past the melodramatics of his co-stars, one of Harrison Ford's best performances, ever. In fact, I'd be so bold as to say that AF0 is probably the best new film of 1997 to date.
Or maybe I'm just losing my mind.
RATING: ****
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
-Christopher Null / null@poboxes.com / Writer-Producer -Visit the Movie Emporium at http://www.filmcritic.com -and Null Set Productions at http://www.filmcritic.com/nullset.htm
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