Sahara

The sort of movie that gives action-adventures a bad name, Sahara sees Matthew McConaughey playing the oddly named Dirk Pitt, a bargain basement version of Indiana Jones. A marine engineer, Pitt and his best pal, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn) work as salvagers for Admiral James Sandecker (William H. Macy, picking up a pay cheque), whose company specialises in finding ancient treasures from sunken ships. Although Pitt's obsessed with finding the wreck of an American Civil War vessel - which is thought to be in Africa, for unfathomable reasons - he gets mixed up in international mischief when World Health Organisation doctor, Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz) discovers an insanely contagious virus and seeks out its origins in the stricken West African country of Mali. Cue all sorts of madcap carry-on as the thrill seeking boys and girl get caught up in Mali's civil war, as they try to locate the source of the virus.

About the most surprising thing about Sahara is that it apparently took four credited writers to come up with what passes for a screenplay here. Even by Hollywood blockbuster standards Sahara is ridiculously contrived, a film where the plot hinges on coincidences so farcical that it could almost be mistaken for an unwitting comedy. Almost. Quite aside from the shockingly inept script, director Breck Eisner doesn't even have the good manners, or talent, to juice up the action sequences to sufficiently maintain interest, while McConaughey and Cruz - despite being a real life item - have all the chemistry and charisma of a wet haddock. Zahn does his best with sidekick role, but even that quickly loses its novelty factor.