Ashes and dust

One last movie week hurrah. We watched The Flight of the Phoenix last night. The 2004 version, that is. Apparently this is a remake of a 1965 James Stewart movie. But we're too young to know that. Dennis Quaid plays the same role.

Unlike the week's earlier viewings, this one was right in the main stream, I would think. But, although it is bound to have far wider appeal, it was also not nearly as good as the other two I reviewed. I think this was sort of an average movie in most respects. It had some nice action scenes, occasional funny moments, a bit of desert philosophy. Giovanni Ribisi plays an interesting character that provides episodes of internal conflict.

If a group of people such as this were to crash in the desert and decide they needed to build a smaller plane from the one they destroyed, I suppose a lot of things would have to go right in order to get them out alive. And—surprise—they do. Along with a fair number of mishaps so it doesn't look too easy. If they didn't have their backs against the wall, then it wouldn't be any fun, now, would it?