President John Marshall is a Mr. Smith Goes To Washington leader-of-the-free-world who departs from scripted policy speeches to commit in public to doing "the right thing, the moral thing." He might be a Ronald Reagan except for the fact that his daughter (Liesel Matthews) respects and adores him, his wife (Wendy Crewson) has a hairdo that moves, and he's an American with whom almost all Americans seem to be comfortable -- Harrison Ford. The focus of the film is so elementarily good guy/bad guy Ford isn't given all that much to play. But as he nearly single-handedly wrests the aircraft from Oldman's gang of Russian neo-nationalist whackos, Ford's guy-next-door factor and worn good looks do their minimalist screen magic.

Oldman's performance as the terrorist struggles free of the script's cliches; its menace festers unpredictably with irrational zealotry. Director Petersen also effectively deploys a fine supporting cast to enhance the film's suspense. He very wisely gives Glenn Close, playing the vice president, a number of close-ups, and in only a few very undernourished, very banal scenes, she is able to do more with her eyes than many a lesser actor might achieve in a full-blown, two-hour, lead performance.

The High Noon-ish patriotism of Air Force One is so shallow and oversimplified that it scarcely bears examination. It does, however, provoke one thought that's hard to dislodge. The president of the United States is paid $250,000 a year to do the job. Harrison Ford was paid nearly 100 times that for playing the president for a shooting schedule of less than two months.