Sahara

Sahara is a rip roaring testosterone filled adventure yarn with plot holes large enough to sail a Confederate iron plated ship through. An adaptation from one of the popular Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt novels Sahara delivers a fun romp without any of that pesky thought that can so mar a good summer blockbuster. Think of it as an Indiana Jones light: rough adventurous lead, comic sensibility, and lots of exotic locales.

Sahara stars Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt the sun tanned sculpted former Navy Seal salvage diver of the Clive Cussler novels. The film is helmed by young director Breck Eisner whose greatest claims to fame are having directed an episode of Steven Spielberg’s mini-series taken, and being Michael Eisner’s son. McConaughey has been looking for a recent hit as his career has been flagging of late despite his killer good looks. He has obviously invested much of himself in this film as a producer, and a star, and as a promoter. For Sahara McConaughey set off in a truck and trailer to loop through America on a publicity tour a day by day account of which can be seen on E! I think McConaughey would have been given a fairer public trial if there was more issue made of him being a generally down-to-earth Texas boy and less about his naked congo playing. Note that since Paramount was forced to license all of the Dirk Pitt books to make this one film that if Sahara does well we can expect to see more Dirk Pitt films sailing into theaters some time in the future.

Steven Zahn costars as Dirk’s trusted sidekick and chum Al. The two actors have great chemistry and their husband and wife banter elevate the film from pure banality. Actually, Steve Zahn seems to have great chemistry with all of his costars so it is probably a testament to his acting abilities that he can play the scattered sidekick for many A list Hollywood actors. The two sail and swim their way around the world working for NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency, rescuing priceless treasures from the depths of the sea. Their crew is headed by Admiral Sandecker a crusty and curmudgeonly William H Macy. Macy chews up the scenery as he works from safety to get his boys out of harms way. Penelope Cruz plays Eva Rojas a World Health Organization doctor who finds a ghastly disease that is killing off people and seems to have originated out of civil war torn Mali.

Most of the film takes place in Africa along river in Niger and Mali. Despite warnings and the fact that the WHO won’t let her go, Eva hitches a ride with Dirk and his companions for a trip up into Mali causing all kinds of baddies to pursue the group. Now Dirk’s backstory is that he has been obsessed with an Ironside from the Civil War called the Texas that sailed away from Richmond never to be heard from again. Somehow a coin from the Texas shows up in Africa and leads Dirk on an adventure up the river into Mail. Now of course there is a scene at the beginning of the film showing the Confederate troops sailing out of Richmond under heavy fire. But the story never provides a reason, any reason, regardless of how flimsy or manipulative, which might have helped lend credence to this cockamamie story of a ship that sailed all of the way across the Atlantic. But no discernable reason at all is given for why a Confederate ship laden with gold that no one has ever heard of, would sail halfway around the world. This bugged me to the point of distraction during the whole film, if all of the action is touched off by something you would think you would come up with a reason for that thing’s existence. But put that aside if you can and the story meanders along to its inevitable big fight conclusion.

McConaughey makes an admirable Dirk Pitt. He is beautiful and brash and he looks out for his friends and he is just smarmy enough to stay on this side of annoying. Al his constant companion since kindergarten shares his love of the water and his love of adventure even if he lacks a bit of Pitt’s charm. The two have the old married couple sort of symbiotic relationship where the know their own territory and they stay out of each other’s way and cover each other’s backs. Rainn Wilson, briefly from Six Feet Under, is a nice addition here as well as the third wheel who gets cast aside part way through the adventure so that he can return a key piece of information to the captain and the outside world just so that the audience knows how really really severe the impending doom is.

Of course the mysterious epidemic takes center stage after a nifty boat chase and our heroes forget all about the American boat full of gold that they were looking for. Admirable but it seems silly when later they find the boat and almost get it destroyed. It is as if they are more interesting in being right and finding the treasure than in preserving the history that goes along with it. Everyone from Indiana Jones, to Ben Gates in National Treasure, to the kids in The Goonies have a healthy respect for the treasures that they are seeking and wish to preserve them as best as possible. Not so for Dirk Pitt who seems more interested in getting the girl than in protecting the antiquities that he has spent a great deal of time and energy finding. Pitt deals in old stuff on the bottom of the sea simply because then he gets to dive every day and still get paid.

And as for the girl, is she really worth running across the desert getting shot at? Penelope Cruz gives a flat and unmemorable performance as the WHO doctor Eva. We do get to see her in a bikini later in the film, but otherwise she runs around Africa making people do things they don’t want to do through whining and then gets herself into precarious situations from which she must be rescued. If the hadn’t made her kick butt in a few scenes to show that she is liberated and not a damsel in distress her role would have been a complete loss. As it is she seems more of a motivation than a character, someone to chase after and save from danger.

The sets start out big and as this sort of film requires they just get bigger as the film progresses. Of course there is a cool James Bond sort of setup with an industrial plant in the desert, but even that doesn’t live up to what it promises and the villains and heroes act in irrational and poorly motivated ways. Then there is the ship, which of course they find later in the film. The setup was neat in holding off a modern army with a 150 year old ship, but I cringed every time something happened to this historic relic and it would have been nice if the hero had felt the same unease at blowing up our nation’s past.

Not that this was an all bad film, Sahara was a fun ride but there were so many plot issues that really distracted from the overall story. If this does spawn a series, and I have no doubt that there will be a sequel if this film does well at the box office, I hope that we will see McConaughey and
Zahn and the Admiral back with a better story and a better supporting cast.