Musings in Search of a Muse

I'm shocked that I haven't written anything about the movie Sahara before now, I could have sworn that I blogged about the opening credits last April, but upon checking I guess I didn't.

Here's what I would have written: The opening credits have to rank among the best in movie history. With Dr. John's "Right Place Wrong Time" as the background (and nicely blended into some African music as the credits wind down), the camera takes a merry journey around the workroom of an explorer/scientist/archaeologist, picking up tidbits of personal and world history along the way. All this establishes the film's tone and gives information that the viewer will use later. A visual feast, all in all, and it even shows us the movie title -- as part of a postcard. If my increasingly faulty memory serves, no effort since the Bond films has been equal to this. Truely commendable.

The film continues with such rich cleverness as having supporting characters that break the traditional Hollywood molds. In a film developed from male-oriented fiction (Clive Cussler wrote the seminal novel as part of series of adventures for Dirk Pitt, the film's main character) like this you would expect a second banana. And you get one, but he isn't just a luckless dimwit that hangs around for no clear purpose. Steve Zahn plays Al Giordino and fulfills the sterotypical characteristics by taking a backseat to the lead in just about everything, but uncharacteristically he's not stupid. Early on it is established that he's ex-Navy, skilled with a variety of weapons and watercraft, and that his second-banana wits are pretty sharp. Clearly this is someone formidable in his own right who just happens to hangout with someone far more handsome.

The top banana, of course, is Matthew McConaughey playing Dirk Pitt and, whether intended or not, the chemistry the two characters demonstrate tells us there's a deep relationship long before the movie establishes it. Even characters not initially familiar with the pair recognize it. Mr. McConaughey carries this off fabulously. He's very comfortable in the character who is still a wide-eyed dreamer of a boy in a well-developed, highly-intelligent man's body. It may be difficult for the female audience to understand, but this is the kind of guy most men wish they were. He has a man's sense of responsibility and sensitivity but the adventerous spirit of a young teen.

Which is what makes this an adventure. The plot in a nutshell is this: A Confederate ironclad may have made it's way to Africa at the end of the American Civil War and Dirk Pitt has been searching for it. After a number of dead ends over the years he's hot on the trail but has managed to pickup a couple doctors from the World Health Organization and gets sidetracked rescuing a beautiful female doctor from a warlord, an evil business mogul, and a world-threatening ecological catastrophy.

Yes, all the earmarks of a manly-man film. And the icing on that cake is Penélope Cruz as the beautiful doctor, Eva Rojas. Aside from taking beautiful to an extreme, this film might not have been as good without her. I can just picture Hollywood wanting to cast an anglo in the part or a latina that isn't easily recognized as such. Miss Cruz adds depth and humanity to the story. Trying to say more than that or to embellish it with adjectives would diminish her accomplishment.

The rest of the cast is effective, too. Lennie James is rather convincing as the despot General Zateb Kazim; Rainn Wilson gives subtance to the geek character in the crew and avoids being the typical wimp; and William H. Macy is the only one who could have pulled off the role of Admiral (Ret.) Jim Sandecker. I can't think of another actor with the comic timing and dramatic gravitas to do the role justice. It might not have been necessary to get Mr. Macy, but it made everything else gel just that much better.

Mr. Macy, Miss Cruz, and Glynn Turman, who superbly played a doctor working with Dr. Rojas, are used to much deeper material than Sahara, but still the writing was surprisingly good. Each character had a unique personality through the dialogue and the plot was logically developed. Perhaps this was because they stuck closely to Mr. Cussler's book. That's an assumption on my part. My father was rather fond of the author's work and he knew good writing. One day I'll get around to reading the original. Surely the medium required some changes, but that's inevetable. Often the cinematography overcomes those problems by presenting background information that couldn't easily be included in dialogue. I imagine the dialogue-free travel segments are as integral to the story, especially the trip up the Niger River, as anything the characters would say.

Actually, some of the imagery is stunning. Not just clever or well done like in the opening credits, but carefully crafted to tell the story in its own right, particulary the burial sequence when the doctors find a village decimated by plague.

And time is spent depicting life in Africa, not just during the aforementioned boat trip, but in nearly every scene. Not many American films use the location and its culture as part of the story and fewer still do it effectively. The first that springs to mind is Lost in Translation (2003) with Tokyo almost becoming one of the characters.

Generally, the film works well as a comedy and a drama as well as an action movie. I find it hard to believe that 6034 'IMDb users' have given a weighted average vote of 5.9/10 (as of today's update - click here for the latest). Other reviews are mixed. They start at the bottom with Jessica Winter's Village Voice rant that reads like a manifesto about what is wrong with corporate America scribbled with more than a tinge of jealousy. At least Roger Ebert gets the idea behind the movie: escapist entertainment. BBC films goes a bit beyond that, but not much as it gives a 4/5 rating. I'd score it a bit higher still, if only for the excellent soundtrack. Many films use popular music to supplement an original score, but this one does it better than most. It is right up there with American Graffiti for execution.

Most of the music is blended into the story via props such as radios, CD players, or loudspeakers. Appropriate but uninspired music fills in the gaps between American hits of the 60s and 70s and some outstanding African music. Sadly, the latter didn't make the soundtrack album. With the exception of "Boat Montage," written especially for the movie, I guess, each of these tracks can be found separately on iTunes so I wonder why the whole album needs to be purchased. From my CD collection I already had "We're an American Band" (used in the scene where Dr. Rojas formally meets Al and Dirk), "Sweet Home Alabama," (highlighting the trip up the Niger after the doctors depart midway), "Right Place Wrong Time" and "Magic Carpet Ride" (highlighting the 'flight' of a downed airplane that has been turned into a sail skate). Of the remaing tracks I liked "On the Road Again" (a great Canned Heat tune I can't find in the movie) and "Never Been Any Reason" (used while the principals are in the port of Lagos) so I downloaded those. Too bad I had the others already because I would have liked to add "Boat Montage" to my library.

Every few minutes throughout the film I thought to myself that this is a man's movie. I hope women like it, too, but if the following dialogue where Dirk, Rudy, and Al are talking about continuing the trip without the admiral's permission is any example, we know the target audience:

Rudi Gunn: But I was hoping to meet a girl on the Australian trip!
Al Giordino (with a big grin and big thumbs up): No, African Warzone; Ship of Death!

Yes, that's how men talk to each other and this film talks to the man in me that wishes his lifestyle was like that portrayed in the movie. It saddens me to think that a sequel might not be in the works due to poor reviews. The cast works rather well together and people tell me that some of the other Cussler novels are just as good. If DVD sales go well maybe this will change the studio's mind. Here's hoping!