Take two all-American boys and one Spanish vixen and send 'em into the North African desert on a wild treasure hunt. Sounds like a straightforward action rip-off, packed with tons of bad guys, big guns and a cheesy romance or two.

Oddly enough, Matthew McConaughey + Penelope Cruz + desert treasure hunt = something a bit more complex. There are actually three or four subplots, decent acting, snappy one-liners and semi-unpredictable plot twists, which make Sahara more interesting than you might think.

Joined by the fearless Dr. Eva Rojas (Cruz), sexy deep sea diver/explorer Dirk Pitt (McConaughey) and his wisecracking best buddy (Al Giordino, played by Steve Zahn) go on a grand adventure across North Africa to find an 1886 Civil War ship full of gold. The ship is allegedly stranded somewhere under sand that was once the Niger River, and Rojas believes it's causing water contamination in the local villages. The catch: The water is really being poisoned by toxins from a solar power plant controlled by McConaughey's benefactor and warlords. They figure out the trio knows their secret and attempt to hunt them down and blow up the evidence before they are exposed. Wait ... warlords? Solar power plants? Confused yet?