Weekly Review -- Bumpy takeoff

Flight of the Phoenix (2004) -- Disaster films usually depend on three elements for their success -- sympathetic characters, a couple of characters that the audience loves to hate and awe-inspiring effects. Dramas, on the other hand, depend on the depth of the characters and the stakes involved in their plight. It is only when all these aspects are secured that a film can attempt to thread the delicate path of a hybrid. Unfortunately, Flight of the Phoenix does not quite manage to get off the ground in terms of character relationships and story development. A plane carrying oil company workers and piloted by Captain Frank Towns (Dennis Quaid) crashes in the middle of a desert near the China-Mongolia border. The survivors immediately start making life-and-death calculations, trying to band together and gather up resources. With freak accidents happening due to extreme environmental conditions or simply due to the crew members' desperation, and with emotions running the gamut from utter dejection to unexpected triumph, the crew know that they cannot afford to sit and wait for rescue. With the help of engineer Elliott (Giovanni Ribisi), they decide to construct a new plane from the old one. Quaid is believable as the reluctant leader, while Ribisi's usual dazed geek persona serves him well in the role of Elliott, whose intentions we are never sure about. Some of the best characters are the supporting ones, like Ian (Hugh Laurie), a corporate type who is more of a survivalist than we may have thought, and Liddle (Scott Michael Campbell), whose one dialogue with Towns makes for one of the film's more touching moments. The screenplay, however, does not pay enough attention to character and story development. The characters are thrown together into the mix, without us knowing that much about them in the first place. Yes, we are rooting for them to find a way out of that desert but, at the same time, the lack of depth and background prevents us from putting ourselves in their shoes. I felt that intertwining and contrasting these individuals' histories with their present circumstances would have made the audience even more sympathetic with their struggles. The film also drags in places, spending too much time on 'are we getting out of here or not' diatribe, rather than actual deeds. On a positive side, the film offers some of the most beautiful aerial shots in recent memory; the crash sequence must have been incredible to see on the big screen. The film's plot and cast are appealing and the film is engaging enough; however, its human element should have been further explored, in order to to bring the proceedings to the next level of emotional impact.

6/10