Congo (1995)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Frank Marshall

Writers (WGA):

Michael Crichton (novel)
John Patrick Shanley (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 June 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Where you are the endangered species

Plot:

When an expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong.

Plot Keywords:

Laser | Gorilla | Diamond | Talking Gorilla | Lion

Awards:

2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Laura Linney	...	Dr. Karen Ross
Dylan Walsh	...	Dr. Peter Elliot
Ernie Hudson	...	Captain Munro Kelly
Tim Curry	...	Herkermer Homolka
Grant Heslov	...	Richard
Joe Don Baker	...	R.B. Travis
Lorene Noh	...	Amy
Mary Ellen Trainor	...	Moira
Misty Rosas	...	Amy the Gorilla
Stuart Pankin	...	Boyd
Carolyn Seymour	...	Eleanor Romy
Romy Rosemont	...	Assistant
James Karen	...	College President / Elliot's Boss
Bill Pugin	...	William
Lawrence T. Wrentz	...	Prof. Arliss Wender

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for jungle adventure terror and action and brief strong language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #33485) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Australia:M | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Germany:12 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:15 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Costa Rica

Company:

Kennedy/Marshall Company, The

Trivia:

Hugh Grant and Robin Wright Penn both declined leading roles

Goofs:

Factual errors: Flares fired from flying airplanes would be immediately swept far behind.

Quotes:

Monroe: When these little African countries get into a dispute, they tend to just murder everybody. They live for the opportunity to settle scores... and they have a lot of scores to settle.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Just Shoot Me!: Secretary's Day (#1.3)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Windy

A fun, scary adventure flick

"Congo" is a lot of fun as long as you don't take it seriously. Because they share the author of the books they are based on, it is perhaps inevitable that in any review of "Congo" the film "Jurassic Park" will come up sooner or later. Yes, "Jurassic Park" vastly surpasses "Congo" in quality, but seeing as how the former is debatedly THE best example of a summer action flick, making that statement doesn't necessarily mean that "Congo" isn't worth watching.

In fact, "Congo" is a breathtaking thriller, probably only marred by its budget which causes some of the effects to look rather cheap, and descend into the B-movie territory. That being said, director Frank Marshall still manages to not only create a film that not only succeeds as an action film, but at times the tension grows so high that it almost could be labeled as a horror flick (though I highly doubt that that was the intent).

Yet there is some justification in labeling "Congo" as a horror film (at least in part). There are definitely some moments, particularly in the latter half of the movie, that are actually quite frightening. While the killer gorillas don't necessarily "look" scary up close, the savagery in which they attack and brutally murder people is pretty scary. In addition, the gore level is pretty high, especially for a PG-13 rating. The efforts on the part of the filmmakers to avoid an R rating is at times obvious, such as in some of the more brutal gorilla attacks, the picture is fuzzy and in slow-motion (these changes are not successful, and hurt the movie). Even as it is, the levels of terror and gore are high enough to make one wonder whether the PG-13 rating is appropriate.

"Congo" is not without its flaws. As I said before, the budget constraints make some of the effects look cheap, and at times lower the film to the B-level range. Also, the film takes a little too long to begin gaining momentum, which at times cause the film to drag (though the payoff in the latter half of the movie is well worth the wait). Finally, it is quite clear that Amy is a person in a gorilla suit (which given the complexity of the character was unavoidable). The killer gorillas don't suffer from the same fate, but they don't look particularly frightening (actually, they look rather sickly, however their actions quickly quash that notion).

Frequently, acting is not a strong point for most action-adventure films, unless the characters are rather unique (as in "Pirates of the Caribbean"). However, "Congo" is an exception. It features not one, but two standout performances. Tim Curry is great as Herkermer Homolka, the jewel-obsessed "Romanian philanthropist" (you can almost see his eyes take the form of diamonds. It's a typical Tim Curry role, but he avoids overdoing it and becoming annoying (which I guess he is, but in a good way).

But perhaps the biggest surprise is Ernie Hudson as the sarcastic, and ever so slick Monroe Kelly. It's all in the delivery, and Hudson delivers his lines with enough wit and bite to make him easily the most appealing actor in the movie. Had this movie been more popular, it would be reasonable to suspect that Hudson could have been up for an Oscar, as most of the nominees of the said award win for inferior performances. Laura Linney and Dylan Walsh are adequate, but given the staple hero characters they are given, it is probably unfair to expect more than what they give. Grant Heslov plays the neurotic sidekick that he usually plays (see "True Lies"), and it is pretty welcoming.

I don't understand why this flopped at the box-office. Perhaps because it had to live up to the reputation of "Jurassic Park," which is more than can be expected of any film.