D: Ivan Reitman
S: Harrison Ford, Anne Heche, David Schwimmer
By the numbers romantic adventure comedy which immediately recalls numerous genre entries including Romancing the Stone (itself derivitave if entertaining). City type Anne Heche on romantic engagement holiday with wimpy boyfriend David Schwimmer encounters rugged pilot Harrison Ford. Despite instant dislike, the two are thrown together when a storm during a trip together to Tahiti crash lands them on a deserted island with no method of communication and no way of taking off again.
The dance which follows is thoroughly predictable and perfectly enjoyable if you're in the right frame of mind when you go in. There is some errant nonsense involving pirates which is arguably in poor taste given the real problems in the region with piracy in recent years, but for the most part this is silly stuff which does not demand to be taken seriously. Ford has visibly more fun than he has had on screen in some time (after the serious heroics of Air Force One and The Fugitive), and is not above one or two wry references to his own advancing vintage as a romantic action hero. Heche is also good (following solid work in Volcano and Wag the Dog), and works well with Ford generating a convincing love-hate chemistry (though quite where her massive wardrobe came from is anyone's guess). This, after all, is the most important element in romantic comedy (the chemistry, not the wardrobe), and the film's success or failure depends on to what extent you buy it.
Reitman is an experienced hand at formula comedy, and has turned in some entertaining fare in the past (Ghostbusters, Kindergarten Cop). This film joins a long list of inoffensive and mediocre films which won't set anyone's life alight, but which will fill an hour or two without taxing the brain too much. Despite the wonderful photography and exotic locations though, it is probably a film which won't lose much without the big screen. The presence of TV star Schwimmer is merely another indication of where this one is bound. Harmless guff for the summer season.
Review by Harvey O'Brien copyright 1998.