Written by: Michael Browning
Starring: Harrison Ford, Anne Heche, David Schwimmer, Temuera Morrison
Rating: [3.5/5]
Vacations serve as a necessary luxury everyone deserves as a way to get away from everything life brings. A relaxing time that allows one to recharge and get a respite, meaning that leisure should sit towards the top of the priorities of this experience and not getting stranded on some deserted island. Six Days, Seven Nights presents a nightmare scenario of how a vacation can go but does so with plenty of charm and a leading duo who make the most of the entire experience.
Typically busy as an assistant editor for a magazine, Robin (Anne Heche) goes on a luxurious vacation on the South Pacific island Makatea with her boyfriend Frank (David Schwimmer) where he proposes to her. When she gets asked by her boss to mildly interrupt her vacation by heading to Tahiti to help with a shoot, her quick plane ride has her and the smooth-talking pilot, Quinn (Harrison Ford) stuck on an isolated island with no way to call for help.
Putting to the test the age-old question of what would you bring with you if you were to get deserted on an island, getting stuck with a pilot you barely know certainly would not sit highly on Robin’s list but yet here we are. We have two individuals stuck in an impossible circumstance where they will assuredly bump heads given their difference in personality that will certainly not result in some romantic feelings brewing between them. Surely it will not happen by any stretch of the imagination. Even with the obviousness of how this plot will play out, this film has so much to enjoy.
One element this film nails is the hopelessness felt by these characters when stranded on this island. With no means of communication other than a singular flare gun, this pair needs to find a way off with limited resources before them. With no other individuals on the island, they need to do everything possible to get the sustenance they need for their stay there such as fresh water and food. With there being no guarantee of either with this undeveloped island, it displays the level of expertise these characters have in this situation. Quinn knows his way around ever so slightly, but the comedy arrives with Robin having absolutely no idea. From improperly firing a flare gun to complaining about the discomfort of the island, she represents the city girl who does not fare well in the wild and it all gets helped along by a dazzlingly charming performance by Anne Heche.
For all the qualities I thought Anne Heche would bring to this film, her hilarious comedy certainly was not one of them and shame on me. Her line delivery as her character goes head-to-head with Harrison Ford’s Quinn and she serves as the ultimate highlight of the film. She takes all of the grumpiness Ford brought through this character and hits him right back with all of her comebacks in a satisfying manner. Robin proves herself as someone bringing her own value to this situation, and Heche overall completely becomes the star of the show. Ford brings his typical charm as well in his attempts to display his manliness but also comedic chops through this situation, especially when feelings begin to brew between them.
Involving murdering pirates, David Schwimmer essentially playing Ross from “Friends,” and a distinct lack of boundaries when it comes to Robin’s workplace, Six Days, Seven Nights presents the best and worst of a vacation experience. We get to experience the South Pacific islands for all of their beauty and the danger they present to those who lack the experience in navigating them. Through all of the trials these characters go through, they show their true selves when the moments get through and they need to make some difficult decisions. This appears with Robin and Quinn’s actions on the island in order to get back to safety, along with what happens when Frank believes he has lost his fiancée. It sheds a light on all but all of this works mostly because of Anne Heche and her wonderful performance as the lead of this film as she leaves pretty much everyone else in the dust with her portrayal.
Films with Josh 
