I'm back and I'm sending you news. They had a test screening of 6 Days, 7 Nights in Pheonix last night. I confirmed the screening, but since this is a first time spy, take the review with a grain of salt. I'll call this guy MODOK for now. There are spoilers in the review so beware, procede at your own risk.
Tonight here in Phoenix they showed “6 Days, 7 Nights” starring Harrison Ford, Anne Heche and David Schwimmer -- I’m sure you know about it, what with all the crap about whether Anne Heche can play a romantic lead. So it was cool to be able to see it early before everybody else, especially since so many people are curious about it. I guess they chose to show it in Phoenix because they think we’re such normal, middle-of-the-road people. And you know what? We could be...
Before I give you my thoughts on the movie, I want to say that I don’t care who Anne Heche or anybody else dates off the screen. All I care about when I’m watching a movie is: Do the actors work? Forget about what you know about Anne Heche being a lesbian or whatever. If you didn’t know that (and even if you did), you’d really like her in this. The only things I’ve seen her in have been “Wag the Dog” (she was simple) and some little movie "Walking and Talking" (she was a bitch!). She’s a lot different here, which leads me to believe she’s got some range. She’s really strong, funny and great in “6 Days/7 Nights.”
She and Harrison together are really good. The whole film feels like one of those 1940s romantic comedies -- very dialogue-driven and smart. She’s in the Rosalind Russell role; he’s in the Bogart or Spencer Tracy role. Harrison is a total surprise in this, too -- much different than I’ve ever seen him in anything. He’s very funny and plays this kind of over-the-hill character with a lot ease and grace. He’s aging well, I got to say.
The plot is pretty simple. Anne plays a magazine editor in New York who goes on a tropical vacation with her new fiancee, David Schwimmer. Schwimmer is basically just playing his Ross character from “Friends.” He’s fine. They go to this amazing resort, but the only pilot available to take them to their island is this kind of grumpy has-been in this beat-up plane -- Harrison Ford. Like I said, I’ve never thought he was as funny or loose as he is in this movie. He’s got this self-depracating humor in this role that is very funny. He tries to hit on Anne, but he’s this drunken annoyance, so she brushes him off. Also, Harrison’s got this hot tamale girlfriend -- I don’t know who played her. I’ve never seen her before. Anyway, Anne gets called in on an assignment and has to go to Tahiti. Of course, the only pilot available is gruff old Harrison. So they take off. Storm hits (all this was kind of not finished, so it’s hard to judge how good that will be). Anne gets a really funny scene during this sequence. She’s doped up on all these relaxants, so she’s babbly and woozy -- like Lucy on Vitameatavegamin. Very funny.
They come to on an amazing desert island. Plane’s down. Broken. Now the “Blue Lagoon” section starts. They bicker a lot -- actually, this is some of the best stuff, the real 1940s-style repartee. I liked it because they didn’t make Anne some damsel in distress. She’s tough and does as much as Harrison through all of the adventure. They explore the island, do some hiking, get to know one another. It’s all very physical -- they take full advantage of wherever they shot. It’s not anything you haven’t seen before, but the two of them really work well together. You can feel the intensity just kind of slowly building between them. Then, some generic action stuff happens -- they come across some pirates and have to escape. The scenes of them rebuilding the plane together are really sharp -- once again, she’s side-by-side with Harrison, not running behind him and falling down. There’s actually more adventure than romance, which I didn’t expect, but Harrison is so good at that kind of stuff. While all this is happening, by the way, they keep cutting back to the resort where Schwimmer is falling for Harrison’s hottie girlfriend.
The romance builds during this whole section, too, and it really works.
There’s a spontaneous kiss on the beach like Burt Lancaster in “From Here to Eternity” that’s really pretty hot. They have a nice romantic dinner, they kind of snuggle and hug -- strictly PG-13 stuff, but really sweet and believable. Like I said, forget what you know about Anne Heche the person. If you just look at what’s going on on the screen, it’s really believable. Harrison’s very loose, sexy and good, too. You’re really pulling for the two of them to get together.
They escape from the island and fly back to the resort finally. Harrison’s injured pretty badly, so Anne has to land the plane. Now comes the “will they stay together or won’t they?” section. I don’t want to give away the ending, but I’ll say this much: you’re really rooting for them to get together. That’s when I knew the movie had gotten to me. Because I really wanted those two characters to be together.
The locations are beautiful. I don’t know where they shot it, but you can tell they were really in the middle of some tropical paradise. There is always something beautiful to look at.
Anyway, I hope the movie gets a fair chance and people get over the “can she play a straight woman?” thing. This is a perfectly sweet, charming date movie for the summer. It’s completely inoffensive, funny, smart and pretty. The two of them really work well together. I think you’ll like it. So, that’s my review. Hope it helps shed a little light on this movie.
