Come back to the Five and Dime Gene Hackman, Gene Hackman

Anyone who's sat through the entirety of Dodgeball knows the treat that White Goodman has waiting for us all at the tail end of the closing credits. His little rant is nothing more than the bitterness of a man who has been defeated by his mortal enemy.

But he's also right about something. American Cinema is not complex.

Want proof? Go see Poseidon.

The original film for all it's other wisdom, knew that it was telling a tragic story and one of it's key telling points was the noble sacrifice. Belle the former Olympian who rescued Gene Hackman's character and the ultimate sacrifice, that of Hackman himself while but a few feet from safety.

34 years later, Director Wolfgang Petersen sets up an equally compelling moment yet refuses to pull the trigger. Does he think we can't take it?

All I can think is that he, like White, understands that all we want is to be entertained for 2 hours with all the thinking checked at the door with our coats.