CON AIR GROSSED $224 million
worldwide. Reviews were mixed, but most
recognised the sheer fun of the thing; Empire
gave it four stars, calling it “an adrenaline blast
of the highest order... magnifying every excess
to previously untapped levels”. While 1996’s
The Rock introduced Cage as an action star,
Con Air made a fully fledged, outsized hero
of him, and he made John Woo’s Face/Off
immediately after.
Rosenberg has a memory of West eating
lunch on set, being given spaghetti sauce
and saying, “More. More. More.” That, says
Rosenberg, sums up the film. “More and
more crazy shit just kept happening. That
was the directive. It really was a big, absurd
enterprise. But the fun and the ebullience
and the feeling that none of us will ever get
to make a film in this way again — I think you
feel [that] on the screen.”
To Bruckheimer, it’s just “a fun romp”.
Nonetheless, he says he’s very heartened every
time he reads about how much affection people
have for it. Rosenberg, meanwhile, is happy
with haters, too. In a 2012 interview, Sideways
and Election director Alexander Payne was
asked if films ever make him upset, and he
immediately cited Con Air, calling it “completely
amoral”. Rosenberg laughs heartily. “I would
take that as truly the height of praise,” he
claims. “Nothing makes me happier than him
saying it was amoral. Yeah, we got one through!
We got an amoral film through the net.”
A gleeful, alpha, bratty statement. Just like
Con Air itself.FLIGHT CLUB
GOOD GUY POE ASIDE, GET REACQUAINTED
WITH CON AIR’S MOST COLOURFUL CONS- SWAMP THING*
(M.C. Gainey)
Brought into the fold by
the cons to fly the plane.
It was Gainey’s idea that
the character should be
joyfully obsessed with flying,
and the army helmet he
wears was a tribute to Donald
Sutherland in Kelly’s Heroes. - CYRUS THE VIRUS
(John Malkovich)
Larkin: “This one’s done it all.
Kidnapping, robbery, murder,
extortion... Likes to brag
that he killed more men
than cancer. Cyrus is
a poster child for the
criminally insane.” - BABY-O
(Mykelti Williamson)
Poe’s diabetic buddy, in
need of insulin, created
to give Poe a reason to
stay on the plane. “It was
a bit of a MacGuffin,
a bit of bullshit,” says
Rosenberg. “Schmuckbait.
But it did the trick.” - GARLAND GREENE*
(Steve Buscemi)
Poe: “The Marietta Mangler.”
Mass murderer Greene
butchered 30 people and
drove through three states
wearing a woman’s head
as a hat. Buscemi loved
the character, especially
the sequence with the
little girl. - DIAMOND DOG
(Ving Rhames)
Larkin: “Former general
of the Black Guerillas...
He wrote a book in prison
called Reflections In
A Diamond Eye. New York
Times called it ‘a wake up
for the black community’.
They’re talking to Denzel
for the movie.” - JOHNNY 23
(Danny Trejo)
Locked up for 23 counts of
rape. A former con himself,
Trejo had the best time on set.
“He said, ‘Listen, I’m just glad
to be here,’” says West. “’I could
be digging trenches or pouring
concrete, so you won’t get any
trouble out of me.’” - PINBALL PARKER
(Dave Chappelle)
In Pinball’s own words:
“Armed robber, arsonist,
dope fiend. I’m a nice
guy — I just got caught.”
Chappelle improvised most of
his dialogue, although “some
of his jokes were too
disgusting to ever get in the
film,” says West. - SALLY CAN’T DANCE*
(Renoly Santiago)
The flamboyant,
cross-dressing Sally Can’t
Dance hasn’t aged so well.
The role was initially bigger
and more fleshed out, says
Rosenberg, but it got cut
down. Cage improvised the
slap Poe gives Sally.
* picked up in Carson CityFairchild C-123 ProviderILLUSTRATION ACUTEGRAPHICS12346785ALAMY, REX FEATURES, SIMON WEST.