The Rendezvous (2016)

I of course watched this because I liked Castle and Stana Magic. She is lovely as always, but her usual shtick doesn't play as well against the less charismatic lead, and also he is the straight man not the loveable buffoon. Her characters brother is murdered but she gets over it in about 3 minutes since he is always needing money, so screw that loser. Very implausible plot with lots of eye-rolling. Just not a good movie in my opinion.

It's strawberry cotton candy. You'll have a few laughs - two surprising ones. There are a few serious notes, but no tears. It's fun and harmless. Which isn't a bad way to spend an hour or so in these times.On a scale of Stana's projects the writing here isn't as good as Sister Cities and nowhere near as good as the best of Castle. The writing and just about everything else is better than The Librarian thing she did.It's a nice if trite story well told with decent actors mostly in Jordan on a small budget. Production values are modest and good. The camera work and score are very nice. Direction and editing are well above average.It's a movie version of the school essay about what I did on my vacation.

In the opening scene, David Rozman, is chained to the steering wheel, notice that on the other end from the steering wheel at his forearm is leather bindings, as easily cut with the Swiss Army Knife that David Rozman had used to crave the symbols of the two cats into his forearm. Removing the leather padding even if there was chain would provide enough space to slip his forearm and hand out of the bindings.1960s to 1970s Mercedes Benzs were built like tanks, however, you can slide the seat back, and using leverage and the actual strength of the steering wheel start kicking the bottom or top of the steering wheel to break the bolts, or bend the column plate enough so that the steering wheel comes off from the steering column.Unless you ran out of fuel you can continue to drive on the tire rims to reach safety, even with the tires shot.Having been to worse deserts than at the Kingdom of Jordan, there are different kinds of sand, from granular, to fine nearly talcum powder sand, unless you follow known routes you and your vehicle can get swallowed up by "soft sand" that was wind blown and gathered in large holes.Rule Travel by Night, sleep during Day. Walking at Night can keep you warm enough as not to freeze to death, sleeping by Day minimizes water loss (sweat).Pillar of Smoke by Day, Pillar of Light by Night. Get the spare tire, let out the air, get whatever burns even the last drops of fuel from the fuel tank (even if you have to puncture the gas tank using a tire iron), or the rag in the gas tank thing, burning a tire will produce so much thick black smoke somebody will show up, usually Law Enforcement.Modern Border Guards at most "Middle East" Nations are armed and equipped, including Bulletproof vests due to Muslim Terrorists as Smugglers. Usually, there is an "Overwatch" Sniper or a 12.7mm Machinegun providing protection to the Border Guards.Gunshot wound at close range to the abdominal area, not usually survivable, velocity is too high, hydrostatic pressures would have ruptured main organs, bullet will fragment, even cutting spine, bullet fragments do not travel in a straight line and may end up anywhere. Jake Alshadi would have died within minutes of being shot.

This film has some plot problems, and there are a couple of pivotal scenes that were less than perfectly executed, but it's just so darn charming that it's easy to overlook any flaws and get swept away by the breathtaking cinematography, beautiful score, and engaging performances by the two main actors.Katic and Jaffrey have the kind of chemistry every filmmaker dreams of for their romantic leads but very few get. There's such a distinct Old Hollywood vibe to their interactions that it makes you nostalgic for the good old days when movies were there to provide fun entertainment and escapism, not weigh you down with grit and stark realism. Their banter is witty and well-paced without feeling forced or cliché, and while at times your modern mindset may wish the script would allow for some deeper emotional reactions to the subject matter, it's their uncontainable charm and playfulness that make this movie worthwhile.It's also refreshing to see a Muslim-American man as the romantic hero, who works for the government, cracks lame jokes, brushes off stereotypes with nonchalance, rolls his eyes in frustration at extreme religious ideology, and overall acts like an ordinary guy who finds himself on a wild adventure with an ordinary gal, who just happens to be Jewish. (This dynamic was much more of a focus and explored in much greater detail in the book this movie is based on, A New Song by Sarah Isaias, but is treated as no big deal in the movie, which felt like a bit of a missed opportunity but also was strangely encouraging at the same time. Because maybe it IS no big deal, and people from different religions really CAN respect each other as people and work together and even be attracted to each other without challenging the other's belief system or getting hung up on their differences. Crazy thought, right?) Hollywood needs more of this.Bottom line: This is a fun little adventure film, a treasure hunt, a romantic comedy with a little something extra to make you think, and I highly enjoyed it.