Sahara

Silly, but somehow not quite silly enough − you keep getting tantalising glimpses of a better, might-have-been movie peaking through; along with mouth-watering vistas of desert dryness, worthy of the Michael Palin televised trek of the same name.

It comes as a bit of a disappointment in Sahara's most Bond-like moments that the baddies are going to wreck the planet more out of incompetence than because they have some secret master plan for a new world order. Good to see that Lambert Wilson isn't afraid of typecasting, as the Americans seem to like their villains French these days.

Peter Bradshaw obviously isn't a huge fan of the film's star: "Once again, Matthew McConaughey proves that he is modern cinema's Mr Zero Charisma. He is the celluloid equivalent of Rohypnol: a deadening whiff of pure boredom that deprives you of the power to think, speak or move your limbs. It wears off after a few hours, leaving you face-down in a stagnant pool of vanilla Diet Coke."

Penelope Cruz is slight in every respect here. Her days as a Hollywood starlet must surely be numbered, especially now that her little niche has been invaded by compatriot Paz Vega who will star alongside Antonio Banderas in the forthcoming Emperor Hadrian biopic.

Anyway, I found it all quite entertaining. Not one for the DVD library though.