Ruby Cairo

Andie MacDowell is not a strong enough actress to carry this on her back as she did. She was basically a sleuth but the persona she conveyed made it seem as if her sleuthing powers just appeared by magic--amazing what script writers can do! It is totally improbable that she could have walked around some of the worst districts of Cairo looking like she did and remain unmolested. Ditto the locations in Mexico. The plot was weak and there were a lot of loose threads. The most interesting part of the movie was the scene shot in a Coptic church in Cairo and, of course, Hollywood had to pull its punches. For while Dr. Lamb credits them with saving his life, it is not clear that he has actually converted. John Faro, the lynch pin for the movie's plot and Bessie's husband, was a weak character, weakly portrayed by Mortensen. I agree with some of the other reviewers that the movie started out to be interesting but began to fall apart about 1/3 of the way into the picture. The ending was very weak--a characteristic of American movies for several decades now and one of my pet peeves.

I just can't seem to tell the difference between Ruby Cairo, As Good As Dead, The End of Violence, and Harrison's Flowers, since they all star Andie MacDowell searching for her lost husband! If you've never seen any of them and have no clue where to start, just pick your favorite of the husbands and rent that one. Do you like Cary Elwes? Rent As Good As Dead. Like Bill Pullman? Try The End of Violence. Were you always a sucker for David Strathairn? Check out Harrison's Flowers. And if Viggo Mortensen floats your boat more than the others, watch Ruby Cairo.

In this one, Viggo dies in a plane crash, so Andie doesn't exactly chase after him. She does chase after his financial records, which are left in a total mess. She soon learns he didn't walk the straight-and-narrow, and as one clue leads her to another to another, she's sent on a trip around the world to find out more about what he left behind. Once in Egypt, hence the title, Andie meets Liam Neeson, the head of a philanthropic organization. Fans of Viggo, don't despair: there are quite a few flashbacks to satisfy your eye candy. And if you love Andie, this sexy thriller is a fun one! If you liked it, check out Harrison's Flowers next. It's a touch more violent, but it's still good.

This film is pretty to watch, but it adds nothing new to the genre; the plot is silly as there is almost no logic in what we are watching. From the opening scenes we know this film is something by the numbers because there is no real suspense; it fails to make sense about what we are watching.

The only thing this movie has going is the different locales in which the director, and his crew, decided to take us: Veracruz, Berlin, Athens, Cairo. All in pursuit of the illusive Johnny Faro, the two timing man without scruples.

The stars are wasted. Let's hope they had a good time while they were in location.

Run of the mill thriller which has a woman searching high and low for a missing hubby thought to have been killed in a plane crash. A few old baseball cards provided clues to a mysterious humanitarian aid group and finally leads her to a country in Africa where all questions were answered.

Ruby Cairo is a would-be good movie despite the choppy plot and horrible script. Liam Neeson is reason enough to see this movie because his performance is the best out of the whole (mis)cast. Andie McDowell's scenes where she was talking to herself were very unreal and uncharacteristic of any human. The love story between Liam and herself was charming but thrust into the movie suddenly and was not picked up at the right times in the plot. The ending, however was cute, despite no real victory on Andie's part. 1/2 *.