Thursday, October 22, 2009

Isn't The Grand Canyon thrilling enough?


Is this any way to spend a honeymoon?

When you set a movie against a backdrop of the Grand Canyon, it's difficult to imagine that an any actor would attempt to compete with the scenery, but Will Patton tries in Canyon, a thriller that offers some fine views of the canyon while building toward what amounts to a kind of dramatic punchline. Patton, by the way, plays a grimy old guy who's as comfortable with mules as he is with people. Patton's Henry offers to take a newly wed couple (Eion Bailey and Yvonne Strahovski) into the canyon despite the fact that they haven't bothered to apply for a permit. We know there'll be trouble, and there is, some of it involving a rattlesnake that changes the course of the story. Canyon has a few bits that aren't for the squeamish, but overall, the movie seems like it's more interested in finding a few gimmicks than in developing either character or story. The filmmakers don't seem to realize that the Grand Canyon is thrilling enough all by itself.

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