Forces of Nature - 1999

It’s a little late, but it’s Sandy New Year!

For the fourth year, Old Millennials Remember Movies celebrates January with a Sandra Bullock movie. To celebrate 2022, we watched one of the worst Sandy Bullock movies around – 1999’s atrocious “romantic comedy,” “Forces of Nature.” Because the start of 2022 deserves this piece of turd.

The year 1999 is often regarded as one of the great movie years, and “Forces of Nature” probably doesn’t crack the Top 150 of movies released that year. It stars Ben Affleck, hot off “Armageddon,” as a book cover blurb writer (laugh out loud at that job) who is traveling from New York to Savannah, Ga. to marry Tea Leo….err… we mean Maura Tierney.

Well, a pre-Sully, Sully situation happens on the plane and boom, Ben needs to take trains, automobiles (and buses) in order to make it to his wedding. But ooooh, complication! Sandy Bullock plays the alluring free spirit who becomes his traveling buddy, and sparks fly! Just kidding! There’s no chemistry whatsoever between the two stars. Somebody call a J. Lo. or a J. Gar. Stat!

In all fairness, Sandy Bullock acquits herself well here, playing a character who is appealing, flawed and mostly believable. So why isn’t she more of the focus of this movie? Why do we have to listen to Affleck do baby talk on an airplane phone to a barely seen Maura Tierney? How do you cast Steve Zahn as the funny sidekick character and give him almost nothing to do?! And do you even know what kind of a master you have here in Richard Schiff, the great character actor who would go on to crush it on “The West Wing.” Why is he doing almost nothing as this tour guide character? Why is he wearing that awful hat?!

Let’s be honest: “Forces of Nature” is terrible, but Old Millennials hosts Tyler and Angela find plenty of fascinating things to talk about anyway, including a rather spirited, Tierney-centric game of “Angela Explains It All.” Tyler tries to defend his boy Affleck, with his strategy mostly focusing on the good work he’s done 20+ years after “Forces of Nature.” Watch “The Way Back” and “The Last Duel”!

Happy Sandy New Year! Cheers to a better 2022… but if it continues being lousy out there, we’re going to subject everyone to “Speed 2: Cruise Control” to open 2023.

Also discussed on this episode of Old Millennials Remember Movies

The Last Duel (2021)
The Tender Bar (2021)
The Lost Daughter (2021)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
The Protege (2021)
Monster Hunter (2020)
Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania (2022)

Check out OMRM’s previous Sandy New Year episodes:

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