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There's so much to not like about 'Six Days, Seven Nights.' But you just may walk out smiling.
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But if you're wise enough to walk into the theater expecting nothing more than some simple fun, 'Six Days' is a pleasant surprise.
The simple plot fits in two paragraphs. Meet Robin (Heche), successful New York fashion maven, and her goofy boyfriend Frank (Schwimmer). Frank wants to put a little oomph in their romance with a vacation in paradise. On the way there they meet Quinn (Harrison Ford) a grizzly, half-pickled backwater pilot, who Robin must later turn to in order to make an emergency photo shoot on a nearby island.
The plane crashes. Robin and Quinn rough it in the wild, while Frank and Quinn's flavor-of-the-month (Jacqueline Obradors) get a little friendly waiting for them to come back.
Frankly, there's more story in a Folger's Crystals ad, and one expects to see the movie crash and burn along with Quinn's plane.
And it very nearly does. With almost annoying jumps between storylines and all too blatant tips of the hat to 'Romancing the Stone,' 'From Here to Eternity' and other far superior romance adventures, the success of 'Six Days' depends heavily on the chemistry between the castaways.
They do the job quite nicely.
Heche -- despite her well-publicized tastes to the contrary -- and Ford are wonderful together. From the sniping hostility of their relationship's start to the thick, romantic tension into which it develops, the pair are a joy to watch. You almost want them to be stranded a little while longer, or wish that whole thing with the pirates was left out altogether, just to see more of the magic.
And when things degenerate to action-flick absurdity, there is at least opportunity to sigh at the tropical scenery. The majestic green island of Kaua`i -- which also starred in 'Jurassic Park' and 'Godzilla' -- never looked better.
(Seeing the plane take off from Kaua`i and fly all the way to Kaua`i provided an extra giggle.)
Director Ivan Reitman gives us a little taste of deep thought, on love, committment and spontenaity. But thankfully, he generally thew most intellectual exercises (and even basic reason) out the window. Quinn's confessions of a long-lost love are no match for his comments on the shape of Robin's butt.
'Six Days' will win no Oscars (at least it better not), and at times the cheese is poured on a little too thick. But for a carefree summer afternoon at the multiplex, it'll make a fine companion to that bucket of popcorn.
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