The Movie: Con Air, directed by Simon West
Recommendation: Something Awful
Reason: This was referred to as an uncommonly good action movie.
Some film concepts just sound terrible when you look at them barefaced. An archaeologist who fights nazis? A computer geek jacks into the system and suddenly 'knows kung fu'? An assassin takes care of a little girl after her family is brutally murdered? A planeful of convicts being transported cross-country gets jacked by said cons and mayhem ensues? How could those possibly be good movies? But Indiana Jones, The Matrix, The Professional and Con Air are truly exemplary films. Each has their own appeal-pulpy action goodness, comic book chic, arthouse credentials and in the case of Con Air, a sort of giddy boys-playing-with-toys gleeful insanity that drags you helplessly along in its wake. This is an action movie with the dial racked up to eleven. The plot is simple, the characters broad-strokes, but somehow, it's a gem.
Action and casting, that's where it all comes together. When your script is alright and your technical crew is up to spec, you have to arrange your cast properly. Galaxies collided to bring together the crew that appeared in this film. Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, John Malkovich, Dave Chappelle, John Cusack...I could go on. Just take a look at the IMDB link up top there and consider the credentials on display. I'm not sure how this cast was brought together. I just know that without all of them, the whole tenuous setup would have fallen apart.
I've already said this movie cranked the dial up to eleven. It's a guy movie. Scott Rosenberg somehow tapped into the little boy in his brain and thought 'I know what I'd like to see in an action movie! Army guys trying to shoot down a plane while they're hiding behind a bulldozer, and then the plane crashes into Las Vegas! AND there should be a car chase! With police bikes and a firetruck!'. And it works. Somehow, someone made it work. The movie was undiluted teenage-boy-fantasy awesome.
-100/365 down, 265/365 to go
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