Updated: 14 September 1997

AIR FORCE ONE

Elements like Harrison Ford as President with a capitol P, James Marshall. I recall reading several reviews in which the authors expressed not a little remorse that our real president doesn't possess this kind of charisma. I'm reminded of the Cranberries' song, "This Is Not Hollywood."

Oh well. I was walking into this film, anyway, with a great deal of expectations. Mostly having to do with Summer-Blockbuster clichés, but also with Ford's performance. Both were fulfilled. I went in expecting a superior effort by Ford, and that is exactly what I got.

I also got a few really dumb terrorists mixed in with the brilliant ones [actually just one--Gary Oldman--Egor], making me question the brilliant terrorist's judgment.

Secondly, the movie hands us a conspiratorial Secret Service agent with absolutely no motivation whatsoever. He was once a KGB agent? He lost the role of Indiana Jones to Harrison Ford? He had a really really bad cup of coffee that morning? Don't know--it's a mystery to me, and to the filmmakers as well, I suppose, because they don't seem to worry about it much. I consider this a major failing only because it screws up the whole plot. You see, he is the reason the terrorists are on the plane. Logic dictates that their press passes would have landed them in a high-security detention facility if not for his intervention. No effective motivation for the raison d'etre of the central plot, and you suddenly find that you're having to manually suspend your disbelief. That can wear you out.

There is also an interesting phenomenon in Glenn Close as the Vice President. This is supposed to be very politically-correct, but then they make her something of an idiot. The relief on her face when she learns that the President is alive and "in charge again," is not only palpable, but disappointing. This is one actress that could have been used to make the VP an intellectual powerhouse of her own, without undermining the hero's position.

Otherwise, the acting was adequate. William H. Macy, who seems to pop up everywhere nowadays, does a pleasant turn as sort of a heroic side-kick, Major Caldwell.

What makes this one of the better action blockbusters of the summer was not only Harrison Ford's President, but the tight thriller pacing and directing within the plane. And some wonderfully wrought scenarios.

One of these involves the President's press secretary--who, incidentally, gives the terrorists a nice tour of the plane under the assumption that they will not be pointing a gun at her head sometime in the near future--and the decision the President must make as to whether she'll live or die. This scenario is repeated for his family as well. These moments have tremendous dramatic potential. And, happily, that potential is not wasted.

In the summer battle of the big-budget action blockbusters (at least those I've seen), this one comes out near the top.