Movie Reviews

Sahara (8/30/2005)


Rated PG-13 for action violence

Directed by Breck Eisner

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy and Penelope Cruz

Rental!

Sahara was good fun, but it was no National Treasure.

Mathew McConaughey plays Dirk Pitt, treasure hunter and pretty boy who searches for a legendary Civil War boat that Pitt believes is full of treasure. Along with his trusty side kick (Zahn), Pitt rescues a skinny babe (Cruz) . . . who happens to be a U.N. scientist trying to find the cause of a raging epidemic. And wouldn’t you guess it, pretty boy helps babe with her crisis . . . and the adventure begins!

Plenty of vehicle chases, fights and close calls for a pretty entertaining ride.

Some compared it to National Treasure . . . but other than the fact that the lead roles are both treasure hunters, it’s a totally different movie. This isn’t even Armagedon and Deep Impact.

McConaughey is great- but I wouldn’t expect less. You never know what you’re going to see from the increasingly buff McConaughey. From dragon killer (Reign of Fire) to pretty boy lawyer (Time to Kill), he’s really proved himself to have range as an actor (unlike your typical Stallone or Costner).

Zahn brings humor to the film as always. Not quite as good as his character “Glen” in Out of Sight, but entertaining as usual.

And Penelope Cruz isn’t quite as irritating as normal. Nice bonus!

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT:
I let my 7, 9 and 12 year old see it and didn’t regret it. The main thing to consider was the violence. We see some dead bodies- people who had died from the terrible disease. We also see some shooting—one man shot repeatedly and then lying motionless with blood on his shirt.

There is absolutely no sex or nudity. Only one kissing scene- pretty mild.

Some people said they heard the “f” word once. I didn’t. www.Screenit.com didn’t either. But www.KidsInMind.com says there was one. Other than that, language was pretty mild. A few uses of hell, damn, crap, ass and 3 uses of God’s name in vain.

Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):


  1. What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
  2. How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
  3. How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?

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Jonathan McKee

Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.

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