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:

Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck, Maura Tierney

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sandra Bullock	...	Sarah
Ben Affleck	...	Ben
Maura Tierney	...	Bridget
Steve Zahn	...	Alan
Blythe Danner	...	Virginia
Ronny Cox	...	Hadley
Michael Fairman	...	Richard
Janet Carroll	...	Barbara
Richard Schiff	...	Joe
David Strickland	...	Steve
Meredith Scott Lynn	...	Debbie
George Wallace	...	Max (as George D. Wallace)
Steve Hytner	...	Jack
John Doe	...	Carl
Jack Kehler	...	Vic

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 Sarah.

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Plot Keywords:

love | neo screwball comedy | title directed by female | wedding | hurricane | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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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 USA:

$13,510,728, 21 March 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$52,888,180

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$93,888,180

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, 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

About a year after the release of the movie, Sandra Bullock actually did survive a plane crash when the corporate jet she was a passenger in skidded off the runway at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming airport. She was not injured in the crash.

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Goofs

When Ben is dancing on the table at "Mr. Wonderful" his hands are alternately on his collar/by his side between shots.

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Quotes

Ben Holmes: Are you going to be here when I get back?
Sarah Lewis: You know me.
Ben Holmes: I would not presume.

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Connections

References Mod Squad (1968)

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Soundtracks

Everlasting Love
Written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden
Performed by U2

User Reviews

conventional romance with a surprise brave ending

In "Forces of Nature," Ben Affleck stars as Ben, a repressed, buttoned-up stuffed shirt writer who, through a series of natural and manmade mishaps, ends up spending the several days before his impending marriage in the company of a freespirited, totally spontaneous and liberated young woman named Sarah, played by Sandra Bullock.

For the vast majority of the film's running time, the screenplay follows the conventions of the opposites-attract scenario almost slavishly. The script even provides Ben's fiancee with an overly-convenient replacement in the form of a now-hunky childhood friend she has not seen in years who rekindles sparks with her on the eve of the wedding.

Thus, the stage is set for the predictable true love romantic finale. But, damn, if the writers don't pull the rug out from under us and shatter the time-honored cliche. This is particularly surprising because, up to now, the film has exhibited no trace of iconoclasm in either its plot or character development. In fact, the screenplay is less a full-fledged narrative than a series of photographic montage sequences strung lazily together as Ben and Sarah engage in one cutesy situation and encounter after another. Thus, the unconventionality of the resolution comes as an even more stunning surprise than it otherwise might.

Affleck and Bullock are very appealing as two young people who complement each other's strengths and weaknesses and who learn to offer one another valuable life lessons. "Forces of Nature" emerges as one of those rare films that is, perhaps bizarrely, actually better in retrospect than in the watching.