Mark Wahlberg Kurt Russell Kate Hudson Gina Rodriguez John Malkovich
This is a thrilling, tense movie, but I wished
I had had a tutorial about offshore oil drilling before I saw it; explaining,
for instance, some of the jobs of the main characters, what the significance of
mud is (it's oil), what kinds of tests were needed to assure safety, and so on. I acknowledge that it’s not really
necessary to understand these things to get a sense of the experience of a gas
well blowing up, but since I like to learn things from movies, that would be my
preference. Instead of that, the
filmmakers chose to open with the testimony of one of the survivors at a
hearing. The value of this is in
knowing later, during the blow-up when you’re biting your nails, that this
person will survive.
Peter Berg and the writers Matthew Michael
Carnahan and Matthew Sand have chosen to give us a candid look at one of the
main characters, Mike Williams (Wahlberg), who is married to Felicity (Hudson)
and has a young girl he adores.
She idolizes him, and writes stories about his work that tie into her
current interest in dinosaurs. But
we learn almost nothing about any of the other characters except Andrea
(Rodriguez), one of the few (only?) women working on the rig who prides herself
on her mechanical knowledge. She represents
women well in her expertise, her calmness, and her practicality in an emergency
situation—most of the time. In the
end, her character is made to be a bit wimpy, but it’s hard to say how much of
that is real and how much of it was in the screenwriters’ dramatizing hands.
It’s fascinating to get a glimpse into the
world of offshore drilling populated mostly with males who only know how to
tease and talk rudely with one another.
But what comes through as well is the importance of knowledge, experience,
and judgment in a job that could affect hundreds of people. Deals among big international companies
to collaborate on a project often underestimate the implications for those down
the chain of command. Here, BP,
Transocean, and Schlumberger are all involved. The story begins with the issue of the project’s being
behind in its schedule, with the money people monitoring the cost and wanting
to skip some tests of rig operations and safety.
Long story short—corners should not have been
cut in jobs like these. Safety of
the workers and the rig should be front and center. Ah, but human fallibility and hubris must be taken into
account. In the end, the companies
involved have been held accountable—to some extent. And there are always heroes in situations like these, which
inspire us and renew our faith in humankind.
I think the real stars of this tantalizing film
are the special effects, sound, and cinematography (Enrique Chediak)
artists. It really does feel like
you are on an oilrig and everything is blowing up around you and fiery things
are raining down on you during the conflagration. I certainly never realized how noisy it is on a rig even
when everything is going according to plan. I guess that’s why I saw so many ear plugs/hearing aids in
the workers’ ears.
That being said, Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell,
and Gina Rodriguez give stellar performances of heroes willing to risk their
lives for others, and John Malkovich always nails the baddy role subtly and
perfectly.
See the fiery inferno at sea and be
amazed.
Grade: B By
Donna R. Copeland
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