6 Days, 7 Nights
starring Harrison Ford, Anne Heche and David Schwimmer
directed by Ivan Reitman
I heard somewhere that Harrison Ford is currently the most popular actor in America. Partly because of his big screen pictures, but largely through money and expose from videotape rentals. His films rent very well. This is something for us to remember, because even if a movie does badly at the box office it can still make money over the long run through royalties. Why shouldn’t he be the most popular actor? He is reputable and handsome in a sort of roguish Han Solo/Indiana Jones sort of way. He’s aging well. He’s talented and wise in all things.
6 Days, 7 Nights is a romantic adventure-comedy set in Tahiti but filmed in Hawaii. A couple for New York City take a one week dream vacation to the exotic south pacific and everything goes awry when Quin (Ford), the pilot of a local island-hopping commuter plane, crashes on an uninhabited island of the Tahiti chain during a storm. For Harrison Ford it is a good film that treats his aging face and body favorably.
As actors get older they have to find new roles that complement their bodies. Maybe one thing that accounts for ht enduring popularity of some movie stars is their ability to do this successfully. Look at how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s roles have changed since he was a teenage body builder in Gorilla. Well, okay, maybe his roles haven’t changed that much.
On the island Ford and Heche have to tolerate each other while figuring out what to do about their predicament, and how to escape the island with virtually no emergency supplies and equipment. During their stay they encounter modern-day pirates - thieves, smugglers - who are the source of the action and excitement.
Meanwhile, Heche’s fiancée, David Schwimmer, is left to engage the search-and-rescue operations. Schwimmer is best known from the television show Friends, a show that I personally dislike. This is the first feature film I have seen with David Schwimmer. I thought he did a good job and I enjoyed his performance.
To escape the island Quin discovers an old, abandoned wreck of a World War Ii Japanese plane crashed in the jungle. That in itself is entirely unlikely since Tahitiwas far outside any area of Japanese military operations during the Pacific War. Using fuselage parts salvaged from the wreck Quin and his passenger manage to jury-rig his own plane just enough to take off the beach and fly to safety at the very moment when the pursuing pirates are approaching for the kill.
This is a better movie than I expected - a romantic adventure comedy. It is worth watching. I already want to watch it again ... and again.