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Forces of nature

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

He went from the eye of the storm, into the arms of a hurricane.

Ben (Ben Affleck before he was famous) has to get from New York to Savannah for his wedding to Bridget (Maura Tierney). He has everything under control until an eccentric young woman named Sarah (Sandra Bullock) literally falls into his life... and atmospheric conditions become decidedly unstable.

The first hint of disaster comes early when Ben and Sarah's plane goes skidding off the runway. Ben inadvertently saves Sarah's life and soon finds that he has inherited an unlikely travelling companion. Despite being detained, derailed and disrobed, panic doesn't really set in until Ben realises that he's developing a definite attraction to the sexy and impetuous Sarah... and the feeling is decidedly mutual.

It seems that man, machine and the forces of nature are conspiring to keep Ben from his vows, leaving him to wonder if this is some kind of cosmic test... and if it is, will he pass?

Persons of interest

Ben Affleck .... Ben Holmes
Sandra Bullock .... Sarah Lewis
Maura Tierney .... Bridget
Steve Zahn .... Alan
Blythe Danner .... Virginia
Ronny Cox .... Hadley
Michael Fairman .... Richard Holmes
Richard Schiff .... Joe
Athena Maria Bitzis .... Juanita the Bull Tamer
Afemo Omilami .... Cab Driver
David Strickland .... Steve Montgomery
Jack Kehler .... Vic DeFranco
Janet Carroll .... Barbara Holmes
Meredith Scott Lynn .... Debbie
George Wallace .... Max
Steve Hytner .... Jack Bailey
John Doe .... Carl Lewis
Marc Lawrence .... Screenwriter
Bronwen Hughes .... Director

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

I saw the best seagull-killing shot I have seen in a long time. Of course, it was only a digital seagull, but it got killed, nonetheless. Yeehar!

Oh yes, the film. Um, this is a romantic comedy, with a touch of Trains, planes and automobiles thrown in for good measure. As a romance it is quite obvious: guy meets girl, guy gets girl, guy meets another girl, guy wants his cake and to eat it, too. Hmmm, men really are bastards, aren't they? Anyway, the surprise twist ending is that he (Ben Affleck) falls in love with the more exciting of the two women (Sandra Bullock) but goes off with the one he's engaged to (Maura Tierney). I don't quite recall, but Ben might have been an accountant or something, which would explain a lot.

Everyone acts well: Ben almost manages to look like he has a stick up his arse, although it's a bit of a stretch for him; Sandra is best when she's not with Ben, at which point she becomes too girl next door for this jaded critic, although from Ben's point of view she's still pretty far out.

There are lots of good laughs, some touching moments, some really good effects (of particular note is the Two-speed Time Stands Still effect with slo-mo rain and real-time action - very effective). The wedding is suitably over done (aren't they all), the voyage of discovery is a long and winding one, but it chugs along at a reasonable pace.

The only thing that stands out as being a real negative (it's a romantic comedy, so you have to give lots of leeway for negatives) is the job-like succession of misfortune which rains down on Ben. It started to get like the raining down misfortune king of movies, Commandments for a while, but nothing could ever be quite that bad.

All in all, Forces of nature is good for a laugh, and a bit of a cry if you're pre-menstrual enough.

Security censorship classification

M (Drug use, low level coarse language)

Surveillance time

106 minutes (1:46 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 24 December 1999

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Seagull-killing

There is a flock of seagulls hanging out at the airport when Ben and Sarah's plane take off. They (the seagulls) are scared by the noise and fly away, but one of them is sucked into the engine, causing the plane to crash. Yeehar!