STARS: ***
DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Petersen
PRINCIPLE CAST:
George Clooney
Mark Wahlberg
John C. Reily
Diane Lane
William Fichtner
John Hawkes
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
TAGLINE: In the Fall of 1991, the "Andrea Gail" left Gloucester, Mass. and headed for the fishing grounds of the North Atlantic. Two weeks later, an event took place that had never occurred in recorded history.
I have to admit that I did not have high expectations for this film, which is why I decided not to see it until it got down to the local discount theater. I thought, �oh another action flick, this time set in water. It might make money, but it can�t be great.� How wrong I was.
The Perfect Storm is based on the novel by Sebastian Junger of the true story of the crew of the Andrea Gail, a swordfish boat, getting caught in one of the most powerful storms ever. The storm is pretty apparent from previews, so I won�t go too far into that. I�ll instead praise what I liked about the film.
Action films are a dime a dozen, so when one comes along actually has some heart, I have to praise it. Most action flicks will introduce you to its characters, put them into an odd situation, and solve the problem. This movie however is not that conventional. First what we are given is about 40 minutes of characterization. This way when the characters do get into their difficult position, you actually feel sorry for them. You start to latch on to the characters and really care for them.
Being these characters were real people, it must have been hard for the cast to portray them, but they do a wonderful job. I am not very fond of George Clooney, so to see him do such a good job was a pure surprise. Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reily are actors who do not get as much praise as they should, so hopefully this film will finally open people�s eyes. And both Diane Lane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are good actresses who are not seen enough in films, and their chemistry with Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney respectively is amazing.
I am quite impressed with this film. Admittedly, I used to have quite paranoia of the ocean, so seeing those huge tidal waves left me more on the edge of my seat than the most of the audience. It is not very often that I can recommend an action film, but this one makes it so easy. The only problem I have with this movie is the lack of characterization for the two subplots later in the film. These were both quite intriguing and I would like to have seen more of them, but I can understand they had to keep the film under the audience�s attention span. Overall, the storm has hit, and it is nearly perfect.
