Con Air

All you want to know about Con Air

For other uses, see Conair.

"Cyrus The Virus" redirects here. For the professional wrestler who used this name, see Don Callis.

"Garland Greene" redirects here. For the singer, see Garland Green (musician).

Con Air is a 1997 American action/thriller film by Touchstone Pictures that stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. It is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Simon West. The film borrows its title from the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, an airline used by the federal government to transport criminals across the country.

The film featured the 1997 hit single "How Do I Live", originally performed by LeAnn Rimes and performed for the film by Trisha Yearwood. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Song and Sound, losing to Titanic in both categories.

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Criticisms
- 3.1 Portrayal of diabetes
- 3.2 Federal Jurisdiction
4 Trivia
5 Television/film references
6 Box office
7 References
8 External links

Plot

Cameron Poe (Cage), a highly decorated and honorably discharged United States Army Ranger returns to Mobile, Alabama from his tour of duty in the Gulf War to reunite himself with his pregnant wife, Tricia, a waitress at a local diner. Upon leaving the diner, he and his wife are assaulted by three belligerent customers, and Poe accidentally kills one of them in self-defense. He pleads guilty to manslaughter charges on the recommendation of his attorney, but receives the maximum sentence of 7-10 years because his military skills classify him as a deadly weapon. He is incarcerated in San Quentin before his daughter is born.

Poe maintains correspondence with his daughter throughout the duration of his sentence. During this time, elements of his personality reveal a sense of honor, nobility, and utilizing violence only as a last resort to resolving conflicts. To pass the time, Poe becomes a heavy reader, learns Spanish and origami. He develops a close friendship with fellow prisoner Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell. He is paroled on his daughter's seventh birthday, having served eight years in prison.

Poe is scheduled to fly home to Alabama along with an assortment of inmates bound for a new Supermax prison being constructed in his home state. The inmates are incarcerated for a variety of extreme offenses, ranging from serial- and mass-murder to serial rape and kidnapping. Many are extremely dangerous and chained to their individual transport cages inside the C-123 airplane "Jailbird", including William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford (Nick Chinlund), Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones (Ving Rhames) and Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (Malkovich).

The transfer is overseen by U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin (Cusack), brought in to ensure a safe and efficient transfer and DEA agent Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney), interested in planting undercover officer Sims among the officers & inmates to acquire valuable intelligence from one of the convicts on the flight. The policy on the flight allows one security firearm in the cockpit and a small arsenal in the belly of the plane, and Larkin insists that Sims board the plane unarmed. Malloy grudgingly accepts the conditions, but slips Sims a concealed firearm in his sock just before he boards the plane.

After take-off, Cyrus and Diamond Dog remove hidden pins from beneath their skin. Fellow inmate Pinball Parker (Dave Chappelle), retrieves petrol and matches lodged in his throat and ignites a fellow convict, causing a distraction and allowing Cyrus and Jones the opportunity to unlock their restraints. Pinball opens Cyrus and Jones's security cages. The inmates revolt, killing or detaining the guards in the cabin and killing the co-pilot with the security firearm. Cyrus instructs the pilot to reassure the control tower below that the flight is on schedule, and the inmates take control of the plane.

As Pinball unlocks the restraints of the Agent Sims he discovers his hidden gun. Sims panics and immediately takes Pinball hostage and starts making demands for a prompt landing. After being momentarily distracted by Poe's attempts to calm the situation, Sims is shot by Cyrus. The plane makes its scheduled landing in Carson City for a prisoner swap, where an assortment of prisoners and guards disguised as prisoners (to stand in for three prisoners killed in the takeover) are transferred off the plane. Several other convicts are transferred aboard the plane including; Garland "The Marietta Mangler" Greene (Steve Buscemi), a notorious serial killer, Swamp Thing (M.C. Gainey), who takes over as the pilot for the plane, and Francisco Cindino (Jesse Borrego), the mastermind of the operation, a prominent drug lord that drafted the other prisoners into the operation in exchange for asylum in "non-extradition territory".

For the duration of the movie Poe remains the anti-hero, thrust into a heroic stance to protect both Baby-O, who suffers from diabetes and needs a syringe for his insulin shot, and Guard Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin), who is restrained and of particular interest to "Johnny 23," (Danny Trejo), an infamous serial rapist, with "23" being the number of his victims. Poe, on numerous occasions, is responsible for alerting local authorities to the dire situation of the plane and, in one sequence, writes a message to Larkin on the shirt of Pinball (died during the rush to get back on the Jailbird in Carson City after he removes the plane's transponder), who he drops out of the plane onto the streets of a crowded city. Poe was also forced to kill Billy Bedlam, when Billy was suspicious of him and he had uncovered proof in the hangar that Poe was a parolee.

Eventually, the convicts land the plane on Lerner Airfield, a small desert airstrip, expecting to transfer to another aircraft. However, thanks to the information Poe wrote on Pinball's shirt, Larkin rushes to the airfield (in Malloy's Corvette Sting Ray), all while assembling a large group of National Guardsmen and local police officers to arrive at Lerner and intercept the convicts. Larkin and Poe discover that Cindino is planning to secretly double cross the convicts by using a small plane he has hidden in a hangar. The two foil his plans and Cindino is personally executed by Cyrus in the wreckage of his plane for his betrayal. It is at this point that Garland Greene wanders off and finds a young girl playing at a nearby trailer park. The unsuspecting girl befriends Garland and invites him to sing the "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" song with her. Meanwhile, Cyrus manages to find the weapons cache in the plane's hangar (along with Billy Bedlam's body). The cons quickly formulate a plan to ambush the National Guardsmen and police officers, who arrive in a large column of transport trucks and police vehicles. A bloody shootout ensues that results in many casualties for both sides.

Garland returns to the group, having not killed the young girl. Poe, having briefly met with Larkin during his search for a hypodermic needle, re-boards the plane to give Baby-O the needle, saving his life. The convicts manage to take off again with Army attack helicopters in pursuit. Poe's identity as a parolee is discovered by Diamond Dog and Cyrus, who deduce that he had been trying to sabotage their plans the whole time having discovered Casey's letter in the hangar. They are about to murder Poe when the helicopters attack, causing panic and mayhem on the plane. Poe uses the commotion to overtake the convicts and force Swamp Thing to land the plane. Upon hearing of this on their radio, Larkin harshly tells Malloy not to shoot down the plane, which Malloy eventually agrees reluctantly to allow the plane to land. The badly damaged plane crashes on the Strip. Poe then works with Larkin in pursuing Diamond Dog, Swamp Thing, and Cyrus (who had eluded capture by hiding in the lower bunker of the plane) on a stolen fire truck. Through their teamwork they stop the truck, and Diamond Dog and Cyrus are killed. Poe reunites with his wife and daughter (having managed to preserve the stuffed rabbit), while Garland eludes capture and is seen playing craps in a casino.

Characters

Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) - a paroled ex-convict and former Army Ranger catching a ride home aboard Con Air from San Quentin to Alabama where he will be returned to his family
Vince Larkin (John Cusack) - a chief U.S. Marshal looking to take back the "Jailbird" with Poe's help
Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom (John Malkovich) - a cunning, intelligent murderer and leader of the inmate uprising, who has spent 25 of his 39 years in the prison system and has been deemed a "true product of the system"
Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones (Ving Rhames) - a black militant leader imprisoned for murdering National Rifle Association members and who acts as Cyrus's second-in-command during the uprising
Joe 'Pinball' Parker (Dave Chappelle) - a drug addict, arsonist, and inmate responsible for distracting the guards, allowing Grissom and Jones the opportunity to initiate the uprising
Mike 'Baby-O' O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson) - Poe's nonviolent cellmate who is transferring between prisons and is a steadfast friend and one of the few decent prisoners aboard the plane.
William 'Billy Bedlam' Bedford (Nick Chinlund) - a mass murderer who is responsible for killing his adulterous girlfriend's entire family and classified as a "separatee" inmate along with Grissom, Jones and Greene.
Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene (Steve Buscemi) - an infamous, soft-spoken serial killer who is feared by the other inmates and revered by Grissom and imprisoned under the highest security measures, including extreme body restraints and a Hannibal Lecter-style mask; he supplies an interesting role (during the time the prisoners land at Lerner Airfield, Garland meets and comes to converse with a little girl, who remains unharmed). He also has a comical conversation with Poe, and escapes at the end of the film.
Johnny 'Johnny-23' Baca (Danny Trejo) - a serial rapist who derives his nickname from the number of convicted rapes, although he claims to be responsible for 600 and wears a string of heart tattoos on his arm to mark each rape conviction.
Swamp Thing (M. C. Gainey) - a Vietnam War veteran and drug smuggler imprisoned for landing a jet full of controlled substances whose pilot expertise is sought after and used to fly the "Jailbird" following its takeover
Francisco Cindino (Jesse Borrego) - the heir of a Colombian drug cartel family financing Grissom's escape.
Ramon 'Sally-Can't Dance' Martinez (Renoly Santiago) - an effeminate, transvestite inmate who appears sexually subservient to his fellow detainees.
Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney) - an overzealous DEA agent looking to shoot down the plane after the death of Agent Sims.
Guard Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin) - a female prison guard transporting Poe and O'Dell who remains protected by Poe during inmate takeover of the plane.
Guard Falzon (Steve Eastin) - a prison guard who dislikes inmates and is saved by Poe (whom he had dubbed "trailer trash"), who plants Sims' tape recorder on him to alert the Carson City authorities.
Willie Sims (Jose Zuniga) - an undercover DEA agent who is posing as an inmate to interrogate Cindino about the family drug business and killed during takeover of the plane.
Tricia Poe (Monica Potter) - Poe's wife.
Casey Poe (Landry Allbright) - Poe's daughter.

Criticisms

Portrayal of diabetes

Con Air has been criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of diabetes mellitus. Baby-O displays some symptoms of hypoglycemia (extreme low blood sugar) rather than the hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) that he is supposed to be suffering from. He also appears to recover immediately on receiving insulin, which is unrealistic, and the degree of urgency attached to his needing treatment is generally more like that of someone with hypoglycemia (who needs urgent treatment within minutes) than someone with hyperglycemia (which takes longer to develop). The movie contributes to the dangerous misconception that the appropriate treatment for a diabetic "in crisis" is insulin; in fact, it is much more likely the patient is hypoglycemic and needs sugar; treatment with insulin is extremely dangerous in this circumstance.^[1]

Federal Jurisdiction

The entire premise of the movie revolves around key precepts of the American federal criminal justice system (Federal Bureau of Prisons incarceration and JPATS transport), even though the manslaughter offense committed by Poe, in addition to many of the other criminal offenses assigned to the other characters, are generally not under federal jurisdiction (unless there is a federal element such as occurring on a military base) and would probably have been in state court, thus no involvement with JPATS. Additionally, the 'person as deadly weapon' theme is a common urban legend; deadly weapons are by definition tools (Poe's case is also a textbook case of self-defense by proxy, which is a valid legal defense in most states).

Furthermore, parole was abolished for all federal inmates entered into the system after November 1, 1987.^[2] The film depicts Poe as receiving parole on his daughter's seventh birthday, but given the time references of the movie (his service in the Gulf War, et cetera), parole would not have been available to a federal inmate.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. (April 2008)
Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles.

In one scene of the movie when the prisoners believe that they are home-free, they play Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 song Sweet Home Alabama while dancing in celebration. This leads to the memorable quote by Garland Greene: "Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash."

The main action of the movie takes place on July 14, Bastille Day, when the infamous prison was destroyed in the French Revolution.

On the DVD commentary of Chappelle's Show, Dave Chappelle states that he improvised most of his lines in this film.

MaximOnline.com named the airplane crash in Con Air number-one on its list of "Most Horrific Movie Plane Crashes."

Jerry Bruckheimer wanted to cut the final scene of Greene at the craps table in Las Vegas and end the movie with the heartfelt family reunion. The screenwriters convinced Bruckheimer to include the scene and in test screenings audiences loved it, thus it stayed.

Three actors in this movie would all later appear in the television serial drama Lost, including M. C. Gainey.

John Cusack, John Malkovich, and Nicolas Cage all appeared in Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman movies. Cusack was the main character in the 1999 film Being John Malkovich, with Malkovich playing himself in a supporting role; and Cage in the 2002 movie Adaptation., which is considered as the making of Being John Malkovich.

Con Air was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Television/film references

In The New Guy, Dizzy Harrison (DJ Qualls) arrives at his new school in the same restrictive outfit that Garland Greene wears when he is first loaded onto the plane.
In the movie Dogma, Chris Rock falls from the sky and hits the ground near Jay and Silent Bob. Jay remarks, "Do you think he has a message on him like that dude in Con Air?" This rouses Rock's character to reply, "Oh, God, did that suck!" He further states, "Con air, con shit!"
It was referenced in an episode of Code Monkeys.
One of the episodes in American Dad is titled Con Heir