After seeing and admiring Wesley Snipes's work in the recent and preposterous film MURDER AT 1600, I viewed one of his earlier films, PASSENGER 57. When PASSENGER 57 was released in 1992, I carefully avoided it because its reviews were abysmal.
(1992 was back in the old days. Today I see most films, promising or not, so I can review them. Without this policy, I would have never seen PRIVATE PARTS or LIAR LIAR, both of which I loved, so there is something to be said for the see-them-all principle.)
Like MURDER AT 1600, PASSENGER 57's script (by Dan Gordon and David Loughery) takes an already questionable premise and contorts it beyond any hope of credibility. Hopeless plots have only two successful strategies, either go for parody or cast a strong lead and hope the lead can carry the film.
PASSENGER 57 has exactly one jewel -- Snipes. He imbues his character, counter-terrorism specialist John Cutter, with a beautiful blend of the athletic and the comical. Although Snipes sometimes seems too smart for his character, his performance is always interesting, albeit not as good as in MURDER AT 1600.
The plot, such as it is, surrounds the hijacking of a plane by terrorists. As luck would have it, Cutter happens to be on board the hijacked plane.
Bruce Payne, whose specialty seems to be playing in numerous obscure movies, plays the terrorist leader Charles Rane. Rane is the quintessential elusive terrorist whom the police have never been able to keep under lock and key. Payne relies on his ever shifting eyes to express emotion. His performance is the sort that elicits laughter at the wrong times. Elizabeth Hurley plays his side kick, Sabrina Ritchie. Her acting relies on a silly collection of sneers.
Most of the cast plays the material dead seriously, except for Ernie Lively as Chief Biggs. Lively did not get the message on the film's intent and goes for pure parody as the racist southern cop with an IQ only slightly higher than his age. Although somewhat out-of-place, he is just ridiculous enough to be funny.
Director Kevin Hooks, whose most recent film was FLED, likes lots of guns and action to keep up the energy. Bright sets help, with one scene at the ever popular locale of an amusement park. On which ride does one of chases occur? The Ferris wheel, of course.
PASSENGER 57 provides brainless entertainment for couch potatoes, but little more.
PASSENGER 57 runs a quick 1:24. It is rated R for violence. The film would be fine for teenagers. Although I enjoyed watching Snipes, I cannot recommend the film and can only give the picture * 1/2.
