Wow.
Ya know.... Wow. How do you make a movie like this one? Seriously. My God, the.. well...
I’m not gonna start there, I want to start where this film deserves to start, and that is with the characters that bring the ANDREA GAIL to life, that make that boat special.
Before I go there though, I need to ask you something. If you don’t know anything about this movie other than “Boat/Big Wave” then leave the review now. Both Tom Joad and El Cosmico were in the same boat as you, and... that’s fine. Go see this movie. Trust me, there is more to it than “Boat/Big Wave”. Don’t read a little bit further because, I’m going to be getting into the stuff you’ll hate me for, but I have to go there to do this film justice. Bye....
Alright, now that they are gone I can be at ease.... speak freely... and tell you my thoughts upon the film and the characters upon the Andrea Gail.
You know, there is a formula to the disaster film. It’s very simple really. You have a short brief ever so tight amount of time to build their characters... to create empathy, before throwing them into... nature.
Because usually, that’s what a disaster film is... Man Against Nature. From time to time, this changes, but typically that is what is afoot.
And THE PERFECT STORM is no different in that respect.
As the film begins we are given an ever so brief window into these men, their lives, why they do what they do. We are given a glimpse of their dreams and problems and loves. Their passions and their tragedies.
And in each case we are supposed to come away with at the very least... One character that we as an audience member doesn’t want to die. Most movies convince us that one character should live, and we get all the motivation on that ONE.
Here... very quickly... Bill Wittliff and Wolfgang Petersen give us a little bit more.
John C Reilly plays Murph... That pugsly faced fella that screwed up. Lost his wife, spends precious moments with his son. Has to hand nearly his entire paycheck over to his wife. And does so wholeheartedly. Wanting to win her back, but that just won’t ever happen. His son is faced with new suitors dating his mom, doesn’t know how to feel about it, and Murph... well, he has to be that strong man that hugs his son with a broken heart and say reassuring things like, “I’m sure whoever your mother chooses will be a very good person” (not a direct quote) while holding his son and fighting back his own tears. Quick and fast. A moment between a divided father and son... and I’m hooked. This character should live and reunite with his wife and son. He deserves to have a happily ever after ending.
Then there’s John Hawkes... one of those character actors that you would instantly recognize from the opening of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN or the Nixer from ROAD RACERS or perhaps you were lucky enough to see him in A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE... John Hawkes is one of my fave character actors working in Hollywood and indies around. He’s always got that... kicked stray dog with a T-bone steak dripping from his mouth look. And he’s great. In this film, he looks like that guy that... just can’t win. He thinks he’s cool, he really does, but he just can’t talk to a lady to save his life. He’s awkward and excitable. He’s the guy that wants the goodies... right now, and it’s so on his mind that he’ll never get em. But... he might... just might have something new coming up. He’s the stray dog that has been told.... come back tomorrow and you’ll get a whole side of beef.
I’m focusing on these two because... quite frankly, everybody else is going to focus on Wahlberg and Clooney. And ya know... they are very good, but to me.... it was the fact that there were no EASY characters to die. Nobody that I felt.... Ewww, I can’t wait to see him buy it. These were all human beings. Folks that had a life they left and couldn’t wait to get back to.
They were working class folk. They sign aboard a ship.... make a big haul, and 2 months later start up again. Sometimes the turnaround is instant. It’s hard on the personal life. You become married to the sea. Addicted to the big haul scenario.
You have to understand... this isn’t a film about a bunch of rich bluebloods and their yacht... this is the story of those 6 guys at the neighborhood bar wearing flannel and with rough hardworking hands. These guys don’t have Richard Dreyfuss soft hands, they haven’t been “counting money” all their lives.
But the point is, they are real people. Not cartoon cut outs. And the first 40 or so minutes of the film is all about character development. The missing piece of TWISTER and GODZILLA.
I have griped all summer long about films like BATTLEFIELD EARTH, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 and GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS. What I’ve wanted was just to care about the people I’m watching do things that no sane person would do. The above 5 movies all spent a fortune to deliver their films. And seemingly, they spent no time on their scripts. Although, each script had tons of money spent on them... they usually became a patchwork of a dozen minds... each cutting and modifying each others’ work. Here... Bill Wittliff shows ya why he’s so good. In the past he’s worked on such exemplary stories as BLACK BEAUTY and LONESOME DOVE and the underappreciated LEGENDS OF THE FALL. Here he builds a dynamic of working men.... these are not the best of friends. Hell, they might not even stand each other. But when they get on the boat and everything goes to hell, they act like human beings and just try to hang onto life as hard as they can.
And that’s the important part of this movie. The struggle to survive. We see it throughout the film. There are cut-aways to other people stranded in the storm being rescued. We see these people hanging by a thread to life. The coast-guard risking their lives... doing things... things that quite frankly... I don’t even know if I’d have the balls to dream about me trying.
Now some might think these ‘cut-aways’ hurt the narrative drive of the film. And ya know... fine, feel that way... But for me they were integral to showing the CONTEXT of this storm. They showed WHY some of the things don’t swing the right way for the crew of the Andrea Gail.
Oh... and if you think this is a film about the boat and the wave. Prepare to be shown exactly what a gigantic ride with an emotional sledgehammer feels like.
Wolfgang lulls us into the lifestyle of these sea men. Trolling for fish... the disappointment of the haul... pushing themselves to do better. Taking necessary risks. I mean... these guys are just doing their jobs. Greed plays into it a bit, but given the information they had.... they were survivable risks.
Now, on either side of me were Tom Joad and El Cosmico. Both of them believed in a happy ending. They were waiting for some gigantic James Bond ship to come, open it’s hull and swallow their ship and take it to safety. That a U.S. Submarine would pull up alongside and safely transport everyone back home. Well, they could sense that perhaps someone would die. I mean... the film feels fated for some sorrow.
Before hand I asked them... “Whatcha expecting?” and basically they knew that this was a Wolfgang Petersen water film with Clooney and Marky Mark. They knew about a big wave. And... that’s about it.
This is why if you have friends that don’t know what happens... DO NOT SPOIL IT FOR THEM. Let them cling to hope. Give them that false sense of security. Toy with them for a while, before annihilation.
This is a gigantic budget film, put out by a studio responsible for past Summer Abortions like WILD WILD WEST and BATMAN AND ROBIN, that has spent over a hundred million dollars on a disaster film where.... EVERYBODY DIES.
They stay true to the history. They don’t Disney out. Personally... I would have ended the film on that pull out on Wahlberg without a narration. Just leaving the audience to ponder the weight of what just happened. And for me... that is the same problem I have with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and SCHINDLER’S LIST... This film Stevens the ending a bit.... not knowing exactly where to call it quits... but this is the most minor of quibbles. The smallest of kinks in the armor.
Ok... Now that I’ve told you about the dramatics side of the movie... Let me fill you in on why this is the best damn disaster film ever filmed.
MY GOD!
The work here by ILM is simply unclassifiably awe-inspiring.
MY GOD!
Keith Wester’s sound mixing and James Horner’s score were just.... unbelievably great in tandem.
MY GOD!
When you combine Horner’s score and Wester’s sound with ILM’s visuals...
MY GOD!
You have to remember... here is a film with no EVIL CAPTAIN in competition with Clooney and his boat. There are no repelling of pirates. This is.... a fishing tale in the way that Deliverance is a simple canoe trip.
This isn’t so much an Action film... as it is a THRILLER. And that’s not a bad thing. You see... there is so much action and so many thrills that you are left exhausted at the end of the film. Literally the storm lasts for like... ever... I mean damn... That storm kicks ass for like the last hour and a half of the film. This isn’t like TWISTER where the tornado does like... oh 3 set pieces and moves on. Here.... the setting for the last hour and a half is.... THE WORST ENVIRONMENT IMAGINABLE.
Not only is it that, but it is gorgeous in the way that a raging ocean can be. I mean, in your own private life... you never ever even want to contemplate ever being in the midst of this. This is not a happy place to be. This is legitimately.... KOBAYASHI MARU time here. This is a NO-WIN SCENARIO... Captain Kirk is not going to re-write the program. This isn’t a survivable event.
Noone can live through what this crew does, except for the audience sitting... nervously twitching at hooks through hands, shark teeth through feet, drownings, this insane fucking thing that Clooney has to do which.... MY GOD! NO FUCKING WAY!
I mean, there’s a moment where a guy is told to straighten the antennae on the ship that was like. FUCK YOU NO! I mean, damn it... I know it’s important. I know lives may be at stake... but WE’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT!!!! I mean, God Damn... No way.
You know the dream of ‘virtual environments’. The... Nothing around these actors is real thing that George Lucas was working with in THE PHANTOM MENACE?
Well... Here.... It’s not gorgeous cities and static landscapes. This isn’t using a computer as an Albert Whitlock substitute.
Water has always been a really huge problem for effects people because... Frankly... water doesn’t work well with models. And in cinema history, I’ve only been sated once with ship in storm effects. And that was the brief shot in CONTACT before the Foster trip somewhere by Japan I believe.
BUT THIS IS SOOOOOO MUCH MORE.
Here... all those fine wisps and sprays of water dancing about the crests.... here the fine air tunnely mist trails as the Andrea Gail chugs away... trying to get through the storm.
Then the sounds... here... I don’t hear any damn bears or lions. I hear hell. This is not where I want to be. YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THE WORK ILM HAS DONE HERE.
I mean... every penny spent is right there on that big damn screen.
When you leave.... you should be exhausted. I mean... I was tensing up throughout that last hour and a half. And dammit... I knew they were all going to die.... I couldn’t not know. I didn’t read the script. I didn’t read the book. But because I read this site and work on it... I knew... these were doomed men.
And the movie worked on me because... I didn’t want them to die. I wasn’t bloodthirsty. It’d be ok with me if there was a happy ending. No seriously.... fuck history... I don’t care. BUT I KNEW THEY FOLLOWED THROUGH... and I didn’t want to believe they had that type of balls.
By the way... this movie will not only ensure that you will never ever want to be a swordboat worker.... but I can’t imagine ANYONE seeing this movie and think.... HMMMMM, I WANT TO JOIN THE COAST GUARD!
Once again... FUCK THAT! NO WAY! Uh uh. I mean... Just the 2,000,000 to 1 chance that another PERFECT STORM will come about in our lifetime... Nope... too risky... No need to do that. Nope. Nope, not me. No need.
I will live vicariously through this film by Wolfgang Petersen. And I have to add to this... MAN... I hope he makes ENDURANCE next! Man.
Also... I now... seriously want to see someone mount a gigantic MOBY DICK film using this sort of technology. THE PERFECT STORM is this fantastic real life drama... but when you imagine the sort of effects leap this film signifies, and you apply it to something with a story at the level of MOBY DICK.
As for Clooney... He is really cooking now. I mean look at this streak....
OUT OF SIGHT
THE THIN RED LINE
SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER AND UNCUT
THREE KINGS
FAIL SAFE
and this one... THE PERFECT STORM.
OUT OF SIGHT
THE THIN RED LINE
SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER AND UNCUT
THREE KINGS
FAIL SAFE
and this one... THE PERFECT STORM.
