I've said it before and I'll say it again: Harrison Ford made it look easy. The man behind Han Solo and Indiana Jones has never been honored for his acting ability, but time and again he is proven to have been the Olivier of the action hero genre. In the first "Mummy" film, Brendan Fraser came closest to nailing Ford's mix of rugged handsomeness, smirking irony and gravitas, all of which are missing from Matthew McConaughey's mouth-breathing personification of Dirk Pitt, indefatigable hero of countless Clive Cussler novels, including "Sahara".
Dirk Pitt was never quite the archeologist adventurer that Indiana Jones was, but Mr. McConaughey's performance is all winking frat boy charm, which leaves little for his sidekick (Steve Zahn, as the reliably goofy Al Giordino) to do except also exude winking frat boy charm. The two of them together look like they couldn't save a seat let alone the world.
As sidekicks go, Mr. Zahn is amusing enough, but what is needed is a hero to root for. Mr. McConaughey is so cavalier, that little seems to be at stake. It's no surprise that Mr. McConaughey also served as executive producer on the film; it's a blatant attempt to make him a bankable franchise star (as if the many egregiously lingering shots of his newly sculpted physique weren't enough of a giveaway). While Mr. McConaughey is a likable enough actor, this attempt to turn him into an action hero is misguided. Mr. McConaughey should get in touch with Josh Lucas who, somewhere along the line, usurped his career, taking all the roles for lovable southern charmers for himself.
The less said about the casting of Penelope Cruz the better. Still struggling with English, though very little is required for the role, Ms. Cruz, like Mr. McConaughey, is just too glamorous for the role of Eva Rojas, doctor at the World Health Organization. She doesn't look like she'd last a minute in the desert. Of course, judging from the film, the desert ain't so bad. In fact, for a movie named "Sahara", there is rarely mention of the oppressive heat. There's not a hat, sunscreen or a bottle of water in sight for the entirety of the film's two-plus hours. Perhaps the stars were afraid of "hat head".
It's rumored that Mr. Cussler, after passing up several Hollywood adaptations, is actually suing over this one. It's not that bad a film, but it's easy to see why Mr. Cussler would be so miffed. Like Tom Clancy and pre-Jurassic Park Michael Crichton, Mr. Cussler obviously takes pains to create the labyrinthine, world-threatening plots that fill his 600 page tomes. It's no great wonder that large portions of the book have to be removed and reordered, but every time the writers (all four of them) break off from Mr. Cussler's blueprint, they do so at the expense of logic and the intelligence of the characters. A perfect example is the frustratingly rote scene in which the vicious dictator shoots a man for not divulging the location of Ms. Cruz' Eva, who is so obviously hiding down a well ten feet away. The bad guy then scowls "she's out there...somewhere". Yep, you got it. She's even within earshot! Naturally, Dirk shows up, sees her backpack by the well and immediately knows where she is. This scene, of course, is nowhere in the novel, it's just lazy screenwriting. Ironically, it probably would have been a better idea to lose even more of the plot, since what remains is mostly soundbites between action setpieces. A quaint framing device in the book regarding a lost Civil War ironclad is given odd prominence as Dirk's obsession and the catalyst to the adventure.
While "Sahara" is nowhere near as good as it should have been, director Breck Eisner keeps the pace brisk and the stunts exciting. If there are more Pitt adventures on the big screen, let's hope Mr. McConaughey spends less time at the gym and more time studying the "Indiana Jones" Box Set.
