AIR FORCE ONE (Columbia) Starring: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Liesel Matthews, Paul Guilfoyle, Xander Berkeley, Dean Stockwell. Screenplay: Andrew W. Marlowe. Producers: Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz, Armyan Bernstein and Jon Shestack. Director: Wolfgang Petersen. MPAA Rating: R (violence, profanity) Running Time: 118 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
"Harrison Ford is the President of the United States" trumpet the print ads for AIR FORCE ONE, to which the only appropriate response is: well, of _course_ he is. The phenomenally popular presidency of Ronald Reagan, if nothing else, gave us a solid sense of what the American people really want in a Chief Executive. They want a cross between John Wayne and Bill Cosby, someone who can be both America's Sheriff and America's Father Figure. In short, they want an approachable ass-kicker.
If that phrase doesn't describe Harrison Ford among all A-list Hollywood stars, I don't know whom it does describe. Ford's James Marshall, the President imperilled in AIR FORCE ONE when terrorists hijack the First Plane, is the President every American secretly dreams about -- a resolute leader and devoted family man who also happens to be handy with an Uzi. Not only would we follow him into battle (and make no mistake, he _would_ be leading the charge), we'd play a game of touch football with him on the lawn afterwards.
That kind of man isn't just the perfect President -- he's also the perfect action hero. AIR FORCE ONE is an extraordinarily effective thriller by any standard, but it's even better with Ford on board. Wolfgang Petersen's direction combines the claustrophobia of DAS BOOT with the cat-and-mouse dynamic of IN THE LINE OF FIRE, then throws in a few stomach-churning dogfights and mid-air escape attempts just for seasoning. There hasn't been a more assured piece of technical film-making in theaters this year, nor a more riveting action spectacle. Ford, however, moves AIR FORCE ONE from the realm of the mere thrill ride to something more potent. He gives you the sense that something is at stake: honor, family, the life of a real human being in danger who is also the President of the United States.
It is the "honor" part of that equation which may raise a few hackles over the rah-rah patriot games of AIR FORCE ONE. There is a decidedly retro-80s feel to the Communist zealots led by Gary Oldman, to the TOP GUN-style military hot-doggery, to Ford's Rambo-in-pinstripes solo guerrilla campaign to free hostages. Still, Andrew W. Marlowe's script never feels jingo all the way. Oldman's performance gives weight to lines which might sound like token imperialist-bashing in someone else's mouth (one such line finds him quieting a righteous hostage by screaming "You killed 100,000 Iraqis so you could save a nickel a gallon on gas...don't lecture me on the articles of war"). In fact, every performer takes chances which make AIR FORCE ONE more than a simple crowd-pleaser. The gutsiest choices may be those made by Glenn Close, playing Vice-President Kathryn Bennett. In a more pandering film, Bennett would have been the take-charge woman in a room full of ineffectual men. Instead, Close plays her as smart but uncertain, dedicated to her President perhaps against all reason.
Not that anyone could blame her. Part of what makes AIR FORCE ONE so satisfying -- and, at times, so wryly amusing -- is that it places President Marshall squarely in the real world of 1990s American political consciousness. The unswerving devotion, the candlelight vigils and the tremendous popularity all make perfect sense as the reactions of cynics in the presence of true greatness. It's easy to get caught up in the thrills of AIR FORCE ONE, not just because it is so well-constructed, but because we're watching a national fantasy. There's only one thing missing from the finale of AIR FORCE ONE: Harrison Ford should step onto the tarmac at Dulles, tip his hat to the assembled throng, sweep the First Lady up onto his trusty horse, and ride into the sunset.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 hails to the chief: 9.
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