Con Air; Jane Eyre

"I am not a beauty; I am Jane Eyre," the reserved governess heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 19th-century romantic classic reminds her would-be suitor, Mr. Rochester. And in our modern times--where surface appearance is increasingly important--it's nice to be reminded that the most vital aspect of human congress (the capacity for giving and receiving love) need not be founded on cleavage and butt. After the miserable Zeffirelli theatrical version (VL-11/96), which starred a miscast William Hurt and gloomy Charlotte Gainsbourg, this new A&E production is a most welcome breath of fresh air. Samantha Morton is an at times self-effacing but never hangdog Jane, whose love for the brusque, tortured, but ultimately fair Edward Rochester (an excellent performance by Ciaran Hinds) slowly grows. "Would you throw convention to the wind to achieve happiness?" Edward asks Jane, posing the critical dramatic question raised by Brontë's tale, and while initially she cannot, Jane eventually learns that sometimes personal happiness is more important than societal convention. An excellent adaptation. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)"I am ugly all day," Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage, sporting the worst fake Southern accent of the year) reports during one of the many staged fights in this labored and uninspired summer blockbuster. The recently paroled from prison Poe is, for reasons only required by the plot, hitching a plane ride with a group of cutthroats, rapists and terrorists, including one really bad apple in an admittedly spoiled bunch--Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (played with leering relish by John Malkovich). When the bad boys--surprise, surprise--commandeer the plane, poor Poe is forced to work in workmanlike fashion with an agent on the ground (John Cusack) to outwit the thugs (who, let's face it, would have all stabbed each other in the back several times over before the second reel commenced). So, to paraphrase Jane Eyre, "Would Con Air throw convention to the wind to achieve the artistic integrity of Jane Eyre?" In a word (or four): No way, no day. With its massive budget, it can't even achieve continuity, let alone integrity: When a car blows up late in the film, watch how John Cusack magically loses his sunglasses for one shot. Con Air is a stale action film which features lots of explosions but very little intelligence--even by action flick standards--and, of course, no challenging romantic entanglements, though Cyrus "The Virus" would be the first to agree with Jane that personal happiness is more important than societal convention. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—May 30, 2006—Touchstone, 122 min., not rated, $19.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1997's Con Air (Unrated Extended Edition) features a nice transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, and includes seven additional minutes incorporated into the film, and trailers. Bottom line: seven extra minutes do not noticeably improve Con Air, and it's still a bare-bones release.]