Snipes flies high in hijacking thriller
PASSENGER 57 (1993, ERA, 81 minutes) WESLEY Snipes stars in this airborne Die Hard -style thriller as an ex-secret service agent turned airline security expert who gets caught up in a hijacking. Bruce Payne plays the super-terrorist and Snipes' nemesis.
Like all half-decent action thrillers, Passenger 57 keeps its build-up to a minimum and moves along quickly, relying on a break-neck pace to overcome plot inadequacies.
There is hardly any characterisation to speak of apart from a gratuitous attempt to humanise Snipes' character with a single slow-motion flashback scene. All the other characters could have come from any other '80s action thriller.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992, ERA, 123 minutes) A LEAGUE of Their Own was Penny Marshall's star vehicle from last year.
With a cast including Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty and Madonna, there was a great deal of interest surrounding the film before its release, thanks to a large extent by the bickering between Madonna and Debra Winger, who dropped out.
A League of Their Own tells the story of America's women's baseball league, formed to sustain interest in the game during World War II.
Typical of Marshall films, A League of Their Own is a manipulative affair that does not endear itself despite its illustrious cast.
BABY ON BOARD (1992, IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT, 90 minutes) JUDGE Reinhold plays a pony-tailed New York taxi driver whose life is turned upside down when Carol Kane and her daughter board his cab.
It turns out Kane's husband had been accidentally killed by the mob but through a freak accident she managed to avenge his death by killing the kingpin's dim-witted nephew.
Baby on Board is an obvious attempt at comedy that turns out to be seriously unfunny. Nothing can redeem this average script and its weak direction.
