I always forget ... is it "desert" or "dessert?": "Flight of the Phoenix"

I know, another damn Dennis Quaid movie. This after said my wife said she liked his sh*t-eating grin.

And here's a fun fact: Quaid has never played a character named "Dennis." He apparently makes a great "Frank" (six movies) and "Jack" (four movies). Heck, he's even been a "Doc" and a "Tuck." But no "Dennis." Maybe Tony Danza can learn something from him.

One of those "Frank" roles comes in "Flight of the Phoenix," a rather silly movie that still is a perfectly enjoyable way to kill a couple of hours. I watched "Phoenix" over the course of a few days, always late at night. Nothing helps you wind down like a simple plot and a bunch of unappealing characters trapped in a barren landscape.

Our story is this: Quaid and his co-pilot swoop into the Gobi Desert (yes, one "s") to collect an oil crew that hasn't found any oil. Oops, their bad. The crew is bummed, but not nearly as much as a little later, when the plane comes across a big sand storm and crashes in the desert, far from any town and with no radio.

The crash survivors include the requisite colorful crew, from the guy who plays that annoying "House, M.D." to a rapper named Sticky Fingaz. (If I ever get the beat box going, I'll probably go with "Bonz Nasteeazzz.") We also get a refugee from "The Lord of Rings" (Miranda Otto, oozing no sex appeal whatsoever) and Giovanni Ribisi -- whom I actually consider a bonafide actor -- as a creepy albino geek. Apparently, the Professor and Mary Ann were busy.

Eventually, this precocious ragtag band decides to build a new plane from the wreckage of the old one so they can fly away home ... or at least away from the middle of nowhere. I ruin nothing by sharing this, and I won't reveal whether they make it or not. But come on ... Dennis Quaid is the lead. It's not like he's the Dark Prince of American Cinema.

The whole plane-building epic is entertaining enough, with the expected number of obstacles popping up on cue every 15-20 minutes. As for the characters, I was pleasantly surprised to find Quaid far from earnest at first. He's an ass for at least an hour, and even if he eventually comes around -- shocker -- this was easier to watch than his one-note performance in "The Day After Tomorrow." (For me, "The Big Easy" always has been hard to top. Well, and "Jaws 3-D.")

Other performances vary, but nobody really shines. I'd like to tell you it's because of a crowded cast, but the bottom line is that the script does little more than give each actor a basic profile to maintain throughout the movie. "You be the tough sidekick ... you be the snippy executive ... you be the Latin cook ... you be the, well, girl, I guess ... " and so on.

But hey, the movie looks pretty good, the plane crash was cool enough, and I got a nice sense of what it would be like to be stranded in the desert. (Here's a hint: Don't fall down a dune in the middle of the night.) Besides, being able to turn off your brain and accept a "now what?" story is nothing to be ashamed of. How else can I explain why I own a copy of "Showgirls?"