Reviews

The writing is a bit amateurish. Several scenes were just hard to accept. The opening scene ends with Mira Sorvino (in heels and mini skirt) jousting in Central Park to stop a medieval knight turned thief. In another scene Sorvino's character goes from old church tunnel to popping out of a manhole cover in mid Manhattan. The romance was clumsy and the ending unsatisfyingly predictable and sappy. Sorvino's acting was fine given the poor script she was burdened with. She is very believable as a smart academician who knows more than most about ancient artifacts. But the romantic relationship was just awkward and uninspiring. It looked like it came from a script a 15 year old boy wrote.

Not a "Bridge On The River Kwai" movie. I would say that it is a movie about philosophy. The characters in this movie go thru a journey learning about duty, honor, justice, forgiveness, ethics, and mercy. What I loved about this movie is the lack of absolute moral clarity. Lots of depth and complexity. One of the great dilemmas the prisoners face 1) should they escape the minimal security and take their chances in the jungle, 2) should they attempt to overpower their captors (and then what?), 3) should they resist their captors at every turn and suffer the consequences, or 4) should they love their enemy and (apparently) cooperate with the enemy? Good stuff.