Con Air - review

Nicolas Cage is a US Ranger who after an incident during which he’s defending his pregnant wife, finds himself in jail. As he writes letters back and forth to his daughter for the first 8 years of her life, he yearns for the day when he’s released on parole and when that day comes, he hitches a ride back home on a US Marshal plane transporting high risk criminals to different prisons.

With his wife and daughter waiting for him at home he hopes it will be an easy flight, but when the inmates take over control of the plane, Cameron finds himself in a fight to ensure he gets home.

As the most dangerous criminals in America hijack the plane and don’t care how many people have to be killed to ensure they get what they want, the US Marshalls on the ground finally work out what’s happened and face a race against time to ensure the plane is grounded, but as it heads towards Las Vegas, it’ll take more than attack helicopters to get the airplane down.

Surprisingly I really enjoyed this action thriller, even though I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite genre of film. It was fast paced and didn’t stop the whole way through – even the violence didn’t put me off!

Co-starring John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi & John Cusack, this movie is definitely one to watch.

Reclaim - review

When American couple Steven and Shannon arrive in Puerto Rico they’re excited to know that when they leave, they will leave as a family after adopting a Haitian orphan.

As they meet their daughter Nina, they enjoy spending time together as they wait for her passport to arrive so they can return to America, but when they wake one morning and realise Nina is missing, their dream come true turns into a nightmare.

With the police on the case, they warn the couple that they may have been subject to an adoption scam and when Steven discovers the office of the agency empty and abandoned, they realise they’ve lost all their money as well as their daughter.

As they desperately search for their daughter, Steven and Shannon are soon kidnapped by a group of friends they met just after picking up Nina with their demands for money turning violent and leaving them fearing for their lives. With the whereabouts of Nina unknown, both Steven and Sharon decide they have nothing left to lose and as the group become more violent, they’re determined to fight for their lives as well as their daughter.

Starring Ryan Phillippe and John Cusack as a bad guy, this thriller wasn’t as fast paced as billed, but it kept me interested enough to keep watching until the end.

Inspired by the real issue of child trafficking, this movie did a good job in highlighting how overseas adoptions can be turned into moneymaking schemes which have no end of victims.

The Frozen Ground - review

When police officers find teenage prostitute Cindy Paulson handcuffed and distressed in an Alaskan motel room, she tells them she was abducted and attacked with her attacker threatening to take her to his cabin and kill her. But with her reputation as a prostitute, the police department don’t take her claims seriously and fail to follow up on her attack.

Meanwhile, State Trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) is called in to help when a body is found buried in a frozen wood and is later identified as a girl who went missing years before. As Jack looks into the murder, he begins to link together Cindy’s claims with the previous arrests of local businessman Robert Hansen as well as the disappearances of a number of other women over the years and is determined to bring him in for questioning. But with his evidence only being circumstantial and the prosecution service reluctant to arrest an upstanding citizen with no hard evidence, it’s up to Jack to persuade Cindy to co-operate with their enquiries into what could be one of America’s biggest serial killing hunts.

As Cindy gives them all the information she knows, Jack and his team work hard to piece together everything they have in an attempt to link it to Robert Hansen, but when Cindy is pulled back into the world she has tried to escape and her attacker witnesses her dancing in a club, her life is once again in danger as she is the only person who can identify him. Will the police catch him in time and be able to prove his involvement with all the other missing women?

Based on the true story of the only known victim to escape American serial killer Robert Hansen, this movie was extremely well acted by all involved, especially John Cusack who I have never seen in a ‘baddie’ role. 

Filmed over the course of only 26 days in order for the frozen winter to really take centre stage, this thriller wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but I still found it worth watching.

Runaway Jury - review

When a man dies in a shootout at work, his wife attempts to sue the gun company responsible for supplying the weapon.

Dustin Hoffman stars as her lawyer with the help of jury consultant Jeremy Piven, but they have a fight on their hands when they discover they are up against Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), a man who tries everything he can to influence jurors.

With a team working on background information in order to select the perfect jury, Fitch is determined to win the case, but neither side has factored on game shop worker Nick Easter being selected.

Doing everything he can to avoid being chosen Nick is eventually selected as a juror, but he has his own agenda. Working together with his girlfriend, they offer both sides the winning verdict to the highest bidder as they attempt to manipulate the jury, but neither of them is aware of how far the defence will go to ensure they get the verdict they want.

Adapted from a John Grisham novel and starring John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, this legal thriller was too long and wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped.

I wouldn’t recommend it.