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Back Shelf Beauties
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Stealth Has Stealth shown up on your radar? Shoot it down before it steals 2 hours of your life. Henry (Jamie Foxx), Ben (Josh Lucas) and Kara (Jessica Biel -showcasing the only midriff baring Navy outfit I have ever seen) are three of the Navy's best pilots, so they have been selected for a top secret project designed to fight terrorism. Their commander, Captain Cummings (Sam Shepard), has been developing a new kind of fighter plane, one that is driven by an evolvable artificial intelligence that does not require a pilot. After a short vacation (which feels like filler, but Biel puts on a bikini, so I won't complain too much), the trio is assigned to run a few test missions to help work the bugs out of the system and start teaching the artificial intelligence, dubbed EDI (but also known as Tin Man), how to be an effective part of the team. However, a real situation has sprung up, and they must fly in to save the day. Is Tin Man up to the job? What kind of habits is he picking up from renegade leader Ben? Can Henry, Ben and Kara go all Top Gun and control the computerized plane when things get out of hand? Stealth is full of many clichés, some plot twists you can see coming from a mile away, some great action, and passable acting, but it has a stupid, forced ending that should have been deleted from the script after the first draft. Director Rob Cohen does a solid job filming some exciting dog fighting scenes with plenty of thrilling jet fighter action, and keeps Stealth flying high when it focuses on the main storyline about Tin Man going CRAZY. While some of the special effects look second rate (like the computerized fire and explosions), it's an interesting story as we watch the trio interact with the plane (complete with Hal-like voice), start to question the engineering, struggle with the decision to destroy the new jet, and battle with Captain Cummings as he becomes overly obsessed with proving how effective his defective plane can be. However, writer W.D. Richter and Cohen make a huge mistake by taking us away from that storyline and into one that feels forced and pointless. For reasons unknown to me, there is a love story at work in this film, and it comes to the forefront in the worst way possible towards the end of the movie. Richter and Cohen have 1 ½ hours of a decent movie, but they try to extend it to 2 hours, which has the same horrible results as a fat guy like me trying to run an extra mile in a marathon (Sadly, you can't give a movie CPR). The focus of the film takes a radical turn towards Ben and Kara, but it's melodramatic, doesn't fit with the rest of the movie and pushes the boundaries of logic. Lucky for Lucas, Shepard, Biel and Foxx, none of them will walk away from this movie with any shrapnel stuck in their careers. Foxx vamps it up in an attempt to make something out of a flimsy character and weak dialogue, but he's a charming guy and deserves a pass for this movie. Don't beat up on him for taking it, because he signed up for Stealth before Ray became such a career-defining, Oscar winning film for him. Lucas is fine in the lead as the typical Maverick fighter pilot, and Biel portrays a tough, heroic Navy lady the way she should. Most of all, I liked Shepard as the out of control military guy who is willing to do anything to protect his life's work. I hate to see a decent movie fall apart like this, but Stealth could have been passable. 1 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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