A Movie That Is A Guilty Pleasure

I have to say that 1997’s Jerry Bruckheimer produced Con Air is an extremely fun ride, and it is one of my favorite action films. If I see this one on TV I will almost always watch it. The film is so over-the-top with its characters, dialogue, and situations that it can’t be truly believable and I don’t think it is meant to be. I know that this is not a high quality film, it doesn’t answer any metaphysical questions. But it is a good popcorn movie and it is endlessly re-watchable, even 15 years after it was released. True to most Bruckheimer productions Con Air is loud, crazy, and completely mindless fun during its 123-minute running time.

I’m not even going to give a synopsis. If you haven’t seen this movie, it is a lot of fun and would be a great film for a date night. It has a great cast of extremely talented actors playing extremely colorful characters. Our leading man Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage), Drug smuggler Joe “Pinball” Parker (Dave Chappelle), serial rapist “Johnny-23” (Danny Trejo), Nathan “Diamond Dog” Jones (Ving Rhames), mass murderer William “Billy Bedlam” Bedford (Nick Chinlund), the Hannibal Lecter wannabe Garland Green, a.k.a. “The Marietta Mangler,” (Steve Buscemi), and the notorious criminal mastermind Cyrus “the Virus” Grissom (John Malkovich). With a cast like that stuck on a plane together for at least half of the film, it has to be good.

Con Air is loud, brash, and over-the-top (did I say that it was over-the-top already?). It’s hard to believe that Michael Bay wasn’t in the director’s chair this time, since it contains many of his trademarks including fast editing, crazy characters, outlandish dialogue, stunning action sequences, explosions, car chases, and shootouts. In reality it was directed by Simon West, (who gave us The Mechanic this year and is currently working on The Expendables 2), in his directing debut. Con Air is one boldly energetic and exciting action flick. I’ve seen the movie well over a dozen times since it first came out in 1997 and it’s never lost its luster or ability to be exciting, brain-dead entertainment. It’s one wild ride that I am a bit ashamed to say that I love to take.

Great Quote: “What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to piss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn’t you consider that to be insane?”- Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi)

Do you have a favorite movie that you are ashamed to say you like. Is it so bad it’s good? There were a lot of movies that I could have went with here, but probably because I love John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi, this one took the cake for me. What is your pick? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter. And if you decide to take the 30 Day Movie Challenge, please leave me a link to your quest so I can stalk you.