God Exists . . . When things are going to Hell

You can find God in the most unusual places. The movie Con Air is one of those places. If you've watched the movie, you've seen that the film is violent and crude with lots of tension and melodrama. It's not a family film (a great deal of violence --- some adult situations and language) but it does portray some very good values in it's heroes.

Though the question about the existence of God is not a central theme of the movie it is one of the threads in the story where God makes a direct appearance (so to speak). The other threads of godliness are found in friendship, loyalty, devotion, commitment and courage in the face of overwhelming odds and circumstances.

Synopsis of the Movie: The name Con Air is a play on the airline named ComAir. The movie name refers to the fact that an airplane is being used to transport a group of dangerous criminals ("Cons" or "Convicts") by air to a high security prison facility.

Most of the passengers (all in shackles) are violent, high-risk, high-security criminals. Only a few are your average run-of-the-mill convict. One in particular --- our protagonist, Cameron Poe --- is a very low-risk prisoner who has really already served his time and is on the flight only as a means of transferring him from where he served . . . . to freedom.

But things go wrong almost immediately . . . the cons take over the plane . . . and the authorities are after them in hot pursuit to bring them down.

Poe is caught between the violent criminals on board the plane and the Feds --- trying to survive so that he can be reunited with his wife and see his daughter for the first time while at the same time trying to save the lives of the prison guards and his best friend who is first in diabetic shock and then wounded by gunfire.

It's complicated and moves fast --- but if you're paying attention you can see some very good qualities surfacing all through a very bad situation.

Con Air
1997
Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Simon West