Con Air

In theaters NOW

Rating: R

Review Date: 06-06-97

Studio site: Con Air

Stars: Nicholas Cage, John Malkovich, John Cusack

Con Air is a wild ride. You can definitely see Jerry Bruckheimer's influence in the movie. Bruckheimer has brought us some of the best thrill rides around such as Days of Thunder, Top Gun, and The Rock. Nicholas Cage stars in this film as Cameron Poe an ex-Army ranger that gets thrown in jail for killing a man while defending his wife and unborn child. But it's time now for Cameron to come home after 8 years away from his family, and he's hitching a ride home on Con Air.

Poe is surrounded by a number of vicious criminals that are headed to the newest federal supermax prison. The ultimate leader of these criminals is the crafty Cyrus the Virus, played by a great bad guy in John Malkovich. Cyrus and his buddies don't have any intentions of taking this plane to jail, instead they view it as their flight to freedom. Poe finds out that to get home he's going to have to do some quick thinking and make good use of his ranger skills and get off this flight to nowhere.

Malkovich plays a brilliant but sometimes somewhat dense character in Cyrus. We learn about all the time and effort that he has put into this master plan. But still we're left feeling, "How can he not know that Poe is lying when he says he's got 15 years left?" But Malkovich has that cool psychopath down throughout the film. Steve Buscemi as the Hannibal Lecter-ish addition to the bunch during their first stop is magnificent at playing a methodical serial killer. He even made me wince when he wandered away from the group during their stop at Lerner Airfield.

John Cusack does an admirable job of being the US Marshall tracking the plane. But Cage is the star of the film. As Cameron Poe unfortunately Cage at times delivers lines in a Rambo/Terminator-ish sort of feel. Cage is very successful is playing the individual walking that fine line between insanity and normalcy.

But as in Jurassic Park, the thing people come to see is the action, and Bruckheimer doesn't disappoint. Unfortunately though, he tries to load up in a wild crash, bang, pow ending to make the film a huge action movie. The ending is typical Hollywood formula and the only thing that keeps the film from being truly incredible. The story line was great but the Hollywood ending left a little bit to be desired. If it's action you're looking for, however, you won't be disappointed in Con Air. 

Grade: B/B+


Parents Guide: This film contains no real nudity to speak of but is rated R for some extreme violence and language as well as sexual suggestion. I would definitely caution parents from letting some yougner children see this film as some of the content may be troubling. 

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