The big summer film in Hollywood is "Sahara" starring Penelope Cruz and Matthew McConaughey. It opens April 8.

The cast is perky and attractive and the film is shot in Morocco and Spain.

Matthew McConaughey can draw female audiences just as Cruz draws males, so the movie should do well at the box office, which should make producer Paramount films happy.

Although shot in Morocco and Spain, the movie is set vaguely in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly Nigeria and Mali. "Sahara" is based on one of novelist Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures, whose hero is a deep-sea expert and treasure hunter with a nose for trouble and lovely women. In movie terms, Dirk is something of a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones.