I kept watching

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2005)

Via on demand, digital cable, and premium channels, I always have zillions of movies at my fingertips -- but rarely watch any of them for more than a few minutes. The last movie I watched on TV from beginning to end before Con Air was the extraordinary Master and Commander -- I saw it in the theater and liked it even better re-viewing it on HBO on demand. The closest I usually come to watching movies at home are watching some of the great HBO series like Carnivale, which have a movie-like feel to them.
Now Con Air is a silly, formulaic movie. But I found it engaging and entertaining from beginning to end. They throw so much at you that there is plenty to like, unless you're trying to be a movie critic...
It was not a movie that was intended to be taken seriously -- that's obvious as minute by minute the movie gets progressively more over-the-top and fantastic in the second half. You know more or less what's going to happen, the only question is "how?" The characters are mere sketches -- Con Air is pure viewing pablum.
But the wonderful cast effortlessly handle their formulaic roles -- and of course the action is non-stop to the point of being ridiculous. I often find that I like 2 star movies more than 4 star ones, dating back to the Clint Eastwood spaghetti Westerns of the 1960's. I'm generally not watching movies to be educated or to show how much taste I have. I want to have fun!