Forces of Nature

Details

With just two days to go before his wedding, Ben Holmes is already having doubts about the whole idea of marriage. When his grandfather is taken ill, his travel plans are altered and he finds himself flying to Savannah to meet up with his increasingly nervous fiancée Bridget. Unfortunately, Ben isn't exactly the world's keenest flyer and things take a turn for the worse when his plane suffers a bird strike during take-off and skids off the runway.

Having survived the experience, Ben decides that there's absolutely no chance of getting on another plane and sets about finding an alternative way home. During the confusion he meets Sarah Lewis, the free-spirited passenger who had been sitting next to him, and the unlikely pair decide to continue their journey together. Unfortunately, with every other stranded passenger having exactly the same idea, finding transport proves rather more difficult than expected.

What follows is an increasingly chaotic journey involving trains, buses, rental cars and just about every other form of transport they can lay their hands on. Sarah's willingness to bend the truth occasionally helps them along the way, although her elaborate stories have an unfortunate habit of coming back to haunt them. Meanwhile, Mother Nature appears equally determined to prevent Ben reaching Savannah, throwing everything from torrential rain to a hurricane into their path.

As Ben and Sarah spend more time together, their completely different personalities begin to attract. Sarah's spontaneous and carefree outlook is a world away from Ben's carefully organised life and, with his wedding rapidly approaching, he begins to question whether returning to Bridget is really what he wants. Assuming, of course, he can actually get there in the first place.

Picture & Sound

The picture is bright, colourful and generally very impressive, with no obvious signs of compression artefacts. There are occasions where the image can look slightly washed out, but detail remains good and the more visually elaborate sequences fare particularly well. Some of the slow-motion photography, especially during the rain sequences, looks gorgeous, whilst the night-time scenes provide an excellent demonstration of just how good DVD can look.

Given that this is primarily a dialogue-driven romantic comedy, there isn't a constant demand for aggressive surround effects. However, whenever Mother Nature decides to join the proceedings the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack suddenly comes alive. Rain, wind and thunder make effective use of the surround channels, adding plenty of atmosphere without becoming overpowering. Dialogue remains crisp and clear in the centre channel throughout, whilst the music is nicely spread across the front soundstage.

Menu & Extras

The menus are animated and extremely effective, accompanied by some suitably pleasant music and giving the disc a nicely polished feel. There's also a reasonable collection of extras, including the theatrical trailer, production notes, biographies and an interesting behind-the-scenes featurette.

The deleted scenes are probably the most interesting addition and provide a little more material for fans of the film. Once again, however, the producers have decided not to offer a seamless branching version allowing the deleted material to be viewed within the film. Given the flexibility offered by DVD, it seems a shame that more studios don't make use of the technology.

Overall

Forces of Nature is one of those films that critics seem determined to dislike far more than audiences do. The basic idea is hardly revolutionary and you can probably guess where things are heading long before Ben reaches Savannah, but that doesn't stop the journey from being enormously entertaining.

Much of that comes down to Sandra Bullock, who is perfectly suited to the unpredictable and occasionally infuriating Sarah. Ben Affleck provides a suitably restrained contrast as the increasingly bewildered Ben, and the chemistry between the pair carries the film through even its more unlikely moments. Steve Zahn also provides plenty of laughs whenever he appears.

There are plenty of disasters along the way and the ending may be fairly predictable, but you still finish the film feeling suitably happy and warm-hearted. More importantly, it's the sort of easy-going film that can happily withstand repeat viewings without requiring too much effort from the grey matter.

Many reviewers have underrated both the film and Sandra Bullock's performance, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It may be lightweight, occasionally silly and completely predictable, but sometimes that's exactly what you want from a romantic comedy. I certainly wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending it.

Special features

• Production Notes
• Cast and Filmmaker Biographies
• Theatrical Trailer
• Behind the Scenes Featurette
• Deleted Scenes