[6]
Director Wolfgang Petersen (Air Force One, The Neverending Story) pits George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg against a killer storm at sea in The Perfect Storm, a true story based on a novel by Sebastian Junger. Clooney plays the captain of a commercial fishing boat that leaves Gloucester, Massachusetts, in October of 1991. Wahlberg is a member of his crew, along with John C. Reilly, William Fichtner, John Hawkes, and Allen Payne. When the ice-maker on their ship malfunctions, threatening the viability of their valuable cargo, the men make a fateful decision to head straight home before the fish begins to spoil. Unfortunately, the most direct path is through a hurricane of historical magnitude.
The Perfect Storm is well cast and performed, trying to create compelling characters out of its working-class heroes and their loved ones back at home, including Diane Lane as Wahlberg’s committed girlfriend. While this effort is appreciated, it doesn’t disguise the fact that the film is really just an old-fashioned, sensationalized disaster movie through and through. More than half the run time is devoted to the storm itself. Scenes of the fishermen rescuing each other while trying to keep their boat afloat are intercut with a sizeable subplot involving the heroics of a Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew.
The characters never win me over in this film. The screenplay tries to justify their unnecessary risk-taking by painting a heroic picture of a noble fishing tradition that goes back generations. Man, fuck that shit. Why risk your life for fish? Learn a new trade, or hell, sell your plasma. Anything but drive straight into a fucking hurricane. It’s such a stupid decision, that I lose a lot of sympathy for fishermen. The storyline with the Coast Guard guys is more compelling to me. These are men who risk everything to save lives, not for fish or money.
Even though the characters are stupid, I still enjoy The Perfect Storm as an up-to-date iteration of the disaster flick. The Oscar-nominated visual effects and sound design succeed in bringing the perennial sub-genre into the 21st century. The film is tightly-paced and the action is frequently nail-biting. James Horner’s wall-to-wall dramatic score is effective at times, but often overbearing. The film features several notable supporting players who make the most of their limited screen time, including Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Michael Ironside, and Christopher McDonald.
With Rusty Schwimmer, Janet Wright, Cherry Jones, Dash Mihok, and Bob Gunton.
Oscar Nomination: Best Sound, Visual Effects