In recent years, Harrison Ford has been such a grave screen presence, scowling through the likes of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series, _The_Fugitive_, and last year's smash _Air_Force_One_, that one wonders if the rogue charm that made him such a superstar had been completely drained from his system. Apparently, it was just lying dormant. With Ivan Reitman's enjoyable romantic comedy/adventure _Six_Days,_Seven_Nights_, the lovable scoundrel is back, giving audiences a fresh reminder of why Ford is one of the most enduring and popular modern screen icons.

Ford plays Quinn Harris, a carefree and slightly slobby (endearingly so) pilot in the Tropics whose broken-down plane crashes in a storm, stranding him and his charter, New York magazine editor Robin Monroe (Anne Heche), on a deserted island. Of course, the sophisticated Robin and the salt-of-the-earth Quinn are at odds long before the plane goes down, and all manner of hostile repartee is exchanged between the two from their first meeting. While some of the lines fall flat, the formulaic motions work because of the unexpectedly electric chemistry between Ford and Heche. Both actors, who have largely done serious works as of late, seem liberated by the lack of dramatic weight on their shoulders, and they deliver their zingers, as weak as they sometimes are, with beguiling abandon.

Naturally, there's nothing like a life-threatening crisis to bring two people together, and Quinn and Robin's warmup to each other is sped up even further by the arrival of some bloodthirsty pirates. Granted, some conflict needed to be introduced on the island, but this tacked-on development from writer Michael Browning is a bit too obviously thrown in for the purpose of adding gratuitous action scenes. But the point is to get the two together, and their newfound affection causes complications for both, but mostly Robin, who came to the islands on a vacation with her fiance Frank (David Schwimmer), who frantically awaits her return on the home island.

Reitman, and old, reliable hand at breezy comedies, keeps the pace brisk and capably handles the more action-oriented sequences. His big accomplishment, however, is bringing the old, smiling Ford back. As appealing and charismatic as he always is, Ford hasn't been quite this charming and affable in years; he's obviously having a blast, and the audience cannot help but have one along with him. Holding her own is Heche, whose scrappy character never becomes the screaming ninny she initially promises to be (as the plane goes down, she frantically pops stress pills). She can take her lumps, physical and otherwise, just as well as Quinn, making her a formidable foil and ideal match.

Formulaic and light as a feather, _Six_Days,_Seven_Nights_ could be cited as a classic example of the summer "popcorn" movie season's lack of substance. It's certainly fluff, but it's unpretentious, undemanding, and--most importantly--fun fluff that goes down as easily as a frothy pina colada on a balmy tropical beach. Pass the popcorn.