Robin Monroe is taking a much needed break from her high-powered, stressful job as a magazine editor. She's off to the South Pacific for a little romance with her nerdy fiance Frank. Things get turned around, though, when a last-minute assignment forces her to leave the tiny island where she's nestled with Frank and fly to Tahiti for a shoot.

That's the setup for newfound romance in Ivan Reitman's castaway comedy, "six Days, Seven Nights." It's a likable but lame romp that further showcases the savvy comedic talents of Ann Heche, who was such a delight in "Wag the Dog."

Robin (Heche) leaves the disappointed Frank (David Schwimmer) at the hotel to sip fluffy drinks with little umbrellas while she flies to Tahiti with Quinn Harris (Harrison Ford), a gruff, burned-out pilot whose raggedy plane seems held together by nothing more than faith,

A ferocious electrical storm forces them to crash-land on a remote island. With the radio down, Robin, the stereotypical sophisticated city girl, pulls out herncell phone to call for help. It doesn't work, of course, as the smirking Quinn knows.

so the duo sets out to explore the island and figure out a way to find help or at least an escape. They scramble up rocks, fall through crevices and otherwise pummel their bodies but remain, in true Hollywood style, fit and fresh. Finally, they paddle the plane's inflatable raft around the island and spot a yacht at sea. But their hopes for rescue are dashed when they see pirates in another boat killing the yacht's occupants.

Meanwhile, the search team Frank has organized figures Robin and Quinn to be dead, and Frank goes about the business of mourning his fiancee. But not for long. He seeks comfort with Quinn's beautiful and sexy companion, Angelica (Jacqueline Obradors).

Needless to say, there's a tidy wrap-up to the story and, since it's a comedy, you can count on a happy ending.

Heche adds a breath of fresh air to Michael Browning's very tired script. She's smart, sassy and a modern-day Carole Lombard. She's also the perfect foil for the hard-case Ford. Theirs is a balance much in the vein of Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in "The African Queen" or Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night." Unfortunately, Heche and Ford are saddled with a weak script, fairly dumb dialogue and predictable action.

The plot is so poorly constructed that it comes as a surprise when Robin and Quinn fall into each other's arms because there hasn't been any buildup or suggestion. The filmmakers are almost saying: "Hey, you got a pretty girl and a cute guy on a beach _ what else are they gonna do?

And the characters are straight out of Central Casting, right down to the vastly uninteresting Frank and the salacious Angelica.

But Heche and Ford are worth a watch, and the lush beauty of Sauai, Hawaii, where the film was shot, is enticing.

"Six Days, Seven Nights" is a Touchstone Pictures release produced by Reitman, Wallis Nicita and Roger Birnbaum. It is rated PG-13 for some adult situations.

By DOLORES BARCLAY= AP Arts Editor=
APTV-06-10-98 1042PDT