Forces of Nature (1999)

A soon-to-be-married man encounters an exciting stranger after his plane suffers an accident on takeoff.

Director:

Bronwen Hughes

Writer:

Marc Lawrence

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Sandra Bullock, Maura Tierney

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Affleck	...	Ben Holmes
Sandra Bullock	...	Sarah Lewis
Maura Tierney	...	Bridget Cahill
Steve Zahn	...	Alan
Blythe Danner	...	Virginia
Ronny Cox	...	Hadley
Michael Fairman	...	Richard Holmes
Richard Schiff	...	Joe
Athena Maria Bitzis	...	Juanita the Bull Tamer (as Athena Bitzis)
Afemo Omilami	...	Cab Driver
David Strickland	...	Steve Montgomery
Jack Kehler	...	Vic DeFranco
Janet Carroll	...	Barbara Holmes
Meredith Scott Lynn	...	Debbie
George Wallace	...	Max (as George D. Wallace)

Storyline

Ben Holmes, a professional book-jacket blurbologist, is trying to get to Savannah for his wedding. He just barely catches the last plane, but a seagull flies into the engine as the plane is taking off. All later flights are cancelled because of an approaching hurricane, so he is forced to hitch a ride in a Geo Metro with an attractive but eccentric woman named Sara.

---

Plot Keywords:

marriage | geo metro | road trip | on the road | airplane accident | 

---

Taglines:

Why watch the Force when you can watch... Forces of Nature?

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sensuality, language and a scene of drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fuerzas de la naturaleza

Filming Locations:

Executive Motor Hotel - 5215 W. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£730,208 (UK) (7 May 1999)

Gross:

ESP 370,765,786 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Roth-Arnold Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a scene early in the movie, the two leads are shown sitting in an outdoor location in front of a large rusty globe. This location is in the city of Savannah, although the two characters have not reached Savannah by that point of the story.

---

Goofs

When Ben and Sarah get off the train they leave all their personal belongings (such as Ben''s Laptop, and Sarahs purse, and luggage). Later in the laundromat, Sarah's wallet gets stolen from her handbag, but she'd left all that on the train.

---

Quotes

Rent-A-Car Lady: There are no more cars... you should have called as soon as you got off the plane.
Sarah Lewis: Ya, you're right. Sorry. I wasn't thinking about that when I was unconscious and bleeding from the head!

---

Connections

Featured in HBO First Look: Forces of Nature (1999)

---

Soundtracks

"Against All Odds"
Written by Phil Collins
Performed by David Strickland

User Reviews

This is why we go to movies.

FORCES OF NATURE was like a breath of fresh air. Not because of the leads: Sandra is still stuck in her 'aren't I adorable/don't you just love me' mode, which will doom her to Norma Desmond status in just a few years, and poor Ben is as clueless as ever. But this has such great casting otherwise and tremendous special effects, plus a script that is a lot more thoughtful than you'd expect in a movie like this.

The premise is that Ben, a nervous air passenger at best, decides against flying when the plane he and Sandra are on has a run-in with a flock of birds and almost crashes before leaving the ground. So that leaves him trying to get to Georgia in time for his wedding.

Along the way they have many adventures which, granted, push the grounds of credibility. But a big chunk of the movie deals with what would best be termed magical reality. There's a hailstorm which provides for as magical a scene as I can remember in recent movies. And he gets to Georgia at about the same time a hurricane does, and he and his intended bride and their families try to sort things out while the wind is tossing about umbrellas and table decorations. The logical thing for these characters to do would have been to go inside to talk, but the special effects are so good that we don't realize that conversations in that chaos would be futile until long after the movie has ended.

And FORCES OF NATURE presents further argument that there should be a category of Best Casting at the Academy Awards. The casting in this movie, down to extras who have no dialog but contribute a valuable presence, is superb. It is cast with people who look as if they belong in these places and have lives that would make good movies in and of themselves. Along the way the confused groom-to-be questions couples he meets in his travels, and those encounters are excellent. Best yet, the casting director isn't afraid to show us people of 'senior citizen' status who are still vital and living their lives at full tilt. Given Hollywood's usual worship of youth and terror at showing people past the age of thirty on screen at all, this in and of itself is almost miraculous.

Check out FORCES OF NATURE. In fact, we may go see it again next weekend. It's so good that repeated viewings will probably be even more enjoyable.

The PG-13 rating is for drug use (which could have been cut out with little loss) and one scene involving strong language, and in that scene the character uses the words that even the most genteel of people would have used under those circumstances.

This story has some nice 'life lessons' in it, so take the kids, too.

On a five scale, Pops gives FORCES OF NATURE 4 spinning umbrellas.