Flight of the Phoenix

Director John Moore, maker of the dreadful Owen Wilson vehicle, Behind Enemy Lines, fares better with this serviceable remake of the James Stewart classic. A bunch of men, and one woman, get stranded in the desert when their plane crashes. Thanks to a creepy engineer (Giovanni Ribisi) who happens to be onboard, they band together and attempt to build a new airplane from the old one and fly to safety. Dennis Quaid is effective in the Stewart role, giving the film a nice central performance. Some of the peripheral characters don’t work at all, but Quaid and Ribisi have some fun. The plane crash sequence is outstanding.