Rental!
Sahara was good fun, but it was no
National Treasure.
Mathew McConaughey plays Dirk Pitt, treasure hunter and pretty boy who searches for a legendary Civil War boat that Pitt believes is full of treasure. Along with his trusty side kick (Zahn), Pitt rescues a skinny babe (Cruz) . . . who happens to be a U.N. scientist trying to find the cause of a raging epidemic. And wouldn’t you guess it, pretty boy helps babe with her crisis . . . and the adventure begins!
Plenty of vehicle chases, fights and close calls for a pretty entertaining ride.
Some compared it to
National Treasure . . . but other than the fact that the lead roles are both treasure hunters, it’s a totally different movie. This isn’t even
Armagedon and
Deep Impact.
McConaughey is great- but I wouldn’t expect less. You never know what you’re going to see from the increasingly buff McConaughey. From dragon killer
(Reign of Fire) to pretty boy lawyer
(Time to Kill), he’s really proved himself to have range as an actor (unlike your typical Stallone or Costner).
Zahn brings humor to the film as always. Not quite as good as his character “Glen” in
Out of Sight, but entertaining as usual.
And Penelope Cruz isn’t quite as irritating as normal. Nice bonus!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT:
I let my 7, 9 and 12 year old see it and didn’t regret it. The main thing to consider was the violence. We see some dead bodies- people who had died from the terrible disease. We also see some shooting—one man shot repeatedly and then lying motionless with blood on his shirt.
There is absolutely no sex or nudity. Only one kissing scene- pretty mild.
Some people said they heard the “f” word once. I didn’t. www.Screenit.com didn’t either. But www.KidsInMind.com says there was one. Other than that, language was pretty mild. A few uses of hell, damn, crap, ass and 3 uses of God’s name in vain.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
Jonathan McKee, president of The Source for Youth
Ministry, is the author of numerous books including the new
Should I Just Smash My Kid's Phone?, and youth ministry books like
Ministry By Teenagers,
Connect: Real Relationships in a
World of Isolation, and the award winning book
Do They Run When They See You Coming? Jonathan
speaks and trains at conferences, churches and events across North
America, all while providing free resources for youth workers and parents on his
websites,
TheSource4YM.com and
TheSource4Parents.com. You can follow Jonathan on
his blog, getting a regular dose of youth culture and parenting help.
Jonathan and his wife Lori, and their three teenagers Alec, Alyssa and Ashley live
in California.
