'PHOENIX' A CRASHING BORE.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor ABOUT MIDWAY through ``Flight of the Phoenix,'' one of the survivors of a plane wreck in the Gobi Desert Gobi Desert Desert, Central Asia. One of the great desert and semidesert regions of the world, the Gobi stretches across Central Asia over large areas of Mongolia and China. cranks up a boombox so that everyone can dance to ``Hey Ya!'' by OutKast. In its cliched cli·chéd also cliched adj. Having become stale or commonplace through overuse; hackneyed: "In the States, it might seem a little clichéd; in Paris, it seems fresh and original" way, the scene is meant to show the spirit and camaraderie of the group, whose members are facing death as their water and supplies dwindle dwin·dle v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. and hope of rescue grows slimmer. However, what it really does is serve as a wake-up for audience members, who by this time are likely nodding off or looking at their watches. The hip-hop spell doesn't last long, and soon we're all free to ponder our navels or wonder why anyone bothered to remake Robert Aldrich's taut 1965 film ``The Flight of the Phoenix,'' set in the Sahara and starring Jimmy Stewart and a top-flight cast, while eschewing the elements that made the original successful - character development, pacing, tension. The new version, directed by John Moore John Moore may be: Clergy
A motley crew is a cliché for a roughly-organized assembly of characters. is headed by Miranda Otto's Kelly (there were no women on the earlier flight) and oil executive Ian (Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born June 11, 1959) is an English actor, comedian and writer, and musician. He is known professionally as Hugh Laurie. Early life and education Laurie was born in Oxford. ). After Towns has brusquely brusque also brusk adj. Abrupt and curt in manner or speech; discourteously blunt. See Synonyms at gruff. [French, lively, fierce, from Italian brusco, coarse, rough gotten the plane loaded and he thinks everybody is onboard, pale, blond, bomber-jacket-wearing Elliott (Giovanni Ribisi Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actor. Biography Early life Ribisi, who is Sicilian-American, was born in Los Angeles, California to Gay Landrum, a talent agent, and Albert Ribisi, a musician. ) shows up. ``Who's he?'' wonders Towns. ``It's a long story,'' replies Kelly. We never do find out how Elliott just happened to be in Mongolia, even though the crew and filmmakers seem to have plenty of time on their hands (as does the audience) to tell us after the crash. A desert storm has blown the plane off course and destroyed its radio. A few years ago, the crash might have looked spectacular, but it and the rest of the special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. are ho-hum by today's standards. After the crash, what we get is a lot of hand-wringing - and precious little else - from the survivors as they wait to be rescued. It seems that Moore, producer William Aldrich This article is about William Aldrich, the U.S. Representative from Illinois. For William Farrington Aldrich, the U.S. Representative from Alabama, see William F. Aldrich. William Aldrich - son of Robert - writers Scott Frank (``Minority Report,'' ``Get Shorty'') and Edward Burns (``The Brothers McMullen'') decided since they had skipped explaining Elliott's sudden appearance, they could go ahead and dispense with many of the basics of good filmmaking, too - including giving their characters personalities. Staring at a family snapshot or sending e-mails that go nowhere will suffice. And despite a few flare-ups here and there, everyone is basically a decent guy (or gal). What drove the original was the clash of personalities, but here, when all you have is a just lot of sand, things get pretty dry pretty fast. The new version doesn't even add in sexual tension - Kelly is just one of the guys, and the rest of the guys are apparently blind. The film is supposed to kick into gear when Elliott announces that he designs airplanes for a living (who knew?) and convinces the survivors to build a new plane out of the old, which will later be christened the Phoenix, after the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes. But neither Elliott's increasingly bizarre behavior (he never takes off his jacket although everyone else is sweating profusely pro·fuse adj. 1. Plentiful; copious. 2. Giving or given freely and abundantly; extravagant: were profuse in their compliments. ), nor confrontations with a band of menacing smugglers on horseback, not even the big plot revelation (straight from the original), does much to stir the film from its lethargy. It's pretty much a lost cause, and an episode of ABC's ``Lost,'' which, too, is about crash survivors, has tons more drama. Welcome relief would have been Laurie's acerbic Dr. House from Fox's ``House'' rather than his bland Ian. About the only thing that might have lifted this ``Phoenix'' from the ashes is more OutKast. Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX - One and one half stars (PG-13: some language, action, violence) Starring: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto, Hugh Laurie and Tyrese Gibson. Director: John Moore. Running time: 1 hr. 52 min. Playing: Wide release. In a nutshell: This ``Phoenix'' crashes and burns and never rises again. |
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