 The Perfect Storm (2000) It's been a while since I've gone to the local multiplex, or in this case, drive-in to see a good "Man vs. Nature" movie, so I was very excited at the concept of getting one of my favorite directors, and two of my favorite actors, George Clooney (alright, forgiven for Batman and Robin) and Mark Wahlberg (née Funky Bunch) in the same film. I thought they were great together in Three Kings. Unfortunately, I knew the outcome of this film before I saw it, since it's based on a true story, but Wolfgang strikes again, thanks to some astonishing visual effects which take the water scenes from Das Boot to a whole new level. There was some "Jerry Bruckheimer-esque" lameness in the script, like the typical Star Wars premonitions that popped up throughout, how the crew continued the "I've got a bad feeling about this" approach again and again, keeping most deep conversation to an absolute minimum. Granted, most of the scenes involving the crew of the Andrea Gale were mere conjecture, but if they weren't battling waves, you wanted to punch them out for their continued ignorance. Maybe that's what the studio wanted … I can't say for sure. Some of the best action and effect footage comes from this interesting, yet slightly unrelated story of a Coast Guard team of rescuers who face incredible odds to get a family out of their capsized sailboat. It was like a fantastic episode of "Rescue 911" which I guess the filmmakers used to explain why no one could find the Andrea Gale. The stunts are thrilling, and the suspense is wound tight thru these scenes … this substory might have made a good movie on its own. This mini-epic inside the film exemplifies the cinematic power of Wolfgang Petersen. It was kind of like watching television with my dad, as the two stories continued to cut back-and-forth. Extra credit for the dialogue I missed thanks to this '91 Chevy Lumina parked next to us (IL plates: RJW 107) filled with 6, yes, 6 children and 2 chain-smoking adults who had less control over the aforementioned children than a referee in a WWF Battle Royal. I'm assuming they snuck in their "charmingly" "South Park"-guttermouthed children in the trunk, because I highly doubt they figured it would be a good idea to spend $48 to take the family to the drive-in. Also, big Loud Bassoon props go out to the 12-year old in the Stone Cold Steve Austin shirt who dinged my car with a folding metal camping chair. All hoosiers aside, The Perfect Storm had a few things going for it, but I would probably recommend for the casual moviegoer to save it for one of those back-burner bored movie rental nights, unless you really are the kind of person who loves great SDDS special effects (which I personally would have rather seen and heard in a theater than a drive-in). While I felt that Clooney and Wahlberg each did their best to bring semi one-dimensional characters to life, I would consider this film to be Petersen's downbeat, plodding antithesis to Air Force One or In The Line Of Fire.
Review by PAL |