Poseidon - Preview

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Rated: PG-13

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: 2006-05-12

Starring: Josh Lucas (John Dylan), Kurt Russell (Robert Ramsey), Richard Dreyfuss (Richard Nelson), Emmy Rossum (Jennifer Ramsey), Andre Braugher (Captain Michael Bradford), Mike Vogel (Christian), Mia Maestro (The Stowaway), Freddy Rodriguez (Marco Valentin), Kevin Dillon (Lucky Larry), Jacinda Barrett (Conor's Mother), Jimmy Bennett (Conor James)

Directed by Wolfgang Peterson

Written by Paul Attanasio, Akiva Goldsman

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Previewed by Josh Tyler : 2006-04-14 15:59:47

When a rogue wave capsizes a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler John Dylan (Josh Lucas) ignores captain’s orders (Andre Braugher) to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety. What begins as a solo mission soon draws others as Dylan is followed by a desperate father (Kurt Russell) searching for his daughter (Emmy Rossum) and her fiancé (Mike Vogel), a young couple who hours before couldn’t summon the courage to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges. Along the way they are joined by a single mother (Jacinda Barrett) and her wise-beyond-his-years son (Jimmy Bennett), an anxious stowaway (Mia Maestro) and a despondent fellow passenger (Richard Dreyfuss) who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn’t want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets off through the disorienting maze of twisted steel in the upside-down wreckage. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water each must draw on skills and strengths they didn’t even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.

It’s been a movie, a movie sequel, a universally panned made-for-TV special, and now it’s a movie again. Hollywood just can’t get enough of upside down cruise ships.

Poseidon is a remake of the big budget (for its time), classic 1972 disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure. The original starred the great Gene Hackman, the beloved Ernest Borgnine, and the genius Roddy McDowell in the story of a group of passengers struggling to survive aboard capsized, mega-sized cruise liner. The new version promises to take that same concept, gussy it up with fancy modern effects, and stick Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, and Richard Dreyfuss in it. You could do worse for a replacement cast.

The new, shorter named Poseidon is directed by Wolfgang Peterson, who threw up an air ball last year with Troy. Before that though, he was the financially successful director of The Perfect Storm. Peterson has some experience with oceanic disaster. But to me, he’ll always be the director of the great 1985 sci-fi movie Enemy Mine. Really, it’s been downhill for Peterson from there.

Still, it’s hard to miss with a disaster movie. Audience expectations are low. Throw in some explosions, celebrity deaths, and maybe a giant squid or two and Poseidon will probably be a success. Bring a breathing apparatus and be in line for the latest redo of Poseidon’s adventure on May 12th.

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