Clive Cussler confection convoluted

Take the suave style of James Bond, the action/adventure of Indiana Jones and the oddly timed humor of Austin Powers and you have main character, Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey), created for the movie "Sahara." \nFor those that don't know, the idea for this movie came from the book "Sahara" by Clive Cussler, which features Pitt and Al Giordano (Steve Zahn) who are members of the National Underwater and Marine Agency. In this case, the inseparable duo stumbles upon a World Health Organization doctor, Eva Rojas (Penélope Cruz), who is investigating a mysterious epidemic spreading across parts of Africa. The epidemic has a threat of spreading down the Niger River and out to the Atlantic Ocean killing all sea life within six months. Rojas hooks up with Pitt and Giordano as the twosome is chasing an old, ironclad Civil War ship that, according to legend, took all of the Confederate army's gold and sailed across the Atlantic to end up in the dry desert of the Sahara. Also, Pitt and Giordano find themselves trapped in the middle of a civil war in Mali. Since the two men are bound by a sense of moral right, they have to find a way to settle the war, stop the plague from spreading and locate a Civil War ship all while being chased through the desert by men wanting to kill them every chance they get. As the newly-formed friends speed up the Niger River in a tuned-up yacht courtesy of N.U.M.A., they find themselves in the middle of a civil war, a crazed businessman trying to kill them and whatever else the rugged terrain throws at them. \nMcConaughey and Zahn represent extremely well the friendship and humor that their characters share throughout the many books Cussler has written. The audience would continuously laugh at the jokes that came at some of the most intense parts of the movie. Also, the action sequences do not portray the blatant falsity that some of the other action movies do these days with unnecessarily big explosions to keep the viewers' attention. \nDespite all the other great parts of the movie, the best has to be the storyline. Out of all the books Cussler has written, this was probably the best novel to turn into a movie because of the ability to toy with people's imagination of things that could have happened more than 150 years ago. \nFor those who have read Cussler's books, the movie will be a little disappointing because the characters are not portrayed exactly the same as they were in the book. For everyone else, the movie is going to provide an entertaining, action-adventure/mystery that will have audiences hanging on the edge of their seats, laughing at the many jokes and captivated by the possibility of a Civil War ship being trapped in the Sahara desert.