![]() ![]() Ruggedness and resilience counts for far more in the characterizations here than does nuance, and everyone delivers as required. The film tells a simple, clear and straight-line story concerned specifically with the frontline grunts who, as usual, take the brunt of the punishment in a conflict or crisis. In a very effective moment, which serves as the film’s dramatic climax, he makes the decision for her.įor the public, the Deepwater Horizon incident represented perhaps the greatest greed- and big business-caused environmental catastrophe ever and, while the result is evident, the focus remains closely on the individuals who had to deal with the disaster and try to survive it. They’ll both be consumed by flames if they don’t jump in the water, but that’s very, very far down and she can’t face it. The action just goes and goes and goes, climaxing at the point where the last two people left on the rig seem to be Williams and young rig worker Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez). This has paid off big-time in the vividly realistic feeling the film imparts. Although massive amounts of CGI were employed, Berg and company insisted upon building a facsimile of the relevant parts of the actual rig, which they did to 85 percent scale. As the platform becomes increasingly engulfed in flames, rescue efforts by boat and helicopter are undertaken to the extent possible, although it remains a wonder that most people survived, given the hell on water that’s evident in nearly every frame. Illustrating this is what the rest of the film is all about. Berg and company proceed to dedicate themselves to elaborately illustrating the panic, confusion, massive exertion, extreme peril, general good judgment and intermittent heroism that resulted, miraculously, in just 11 people losing their lives, rather than many dozens more. ![]() In a very effective bit of staging, Russell’s character is taking a shower in tight quarters when the fire reaches him, and what he suffers to extricate himself is excruciating and extreme. The structure quickly becomes a towering inferno and, as soon becomes apparent, there’s no way to put this fire out. And here, officially, dialogue stops mattering at all as the action takes over entirely. ![]() The pandemonium and excitement start up very quickly, with dials spinning over into the red zone, oil seeping up through the floor, bolts beginning to pop off their fixtures and, before long, water surging in and fire and smoke spreading to the rig’s chambers. As usual, it’s the evil profit-minded bosses versus the little guys, which in this instance was exactly the case, and BP will never hear the end of it. More dubious are the local workers, led by crew chief Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) and chief electronics technician Mike Williams ( Wahlberg), who of course put safety first. The villain is apparent right away, he being BP executive Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich), a drawling bottom-line type who, because things are running behind schedule, insists upon going ahead with some tests despite doubts about their viability. No, it’s all about what happened in April 2010 on British Petroleum’s enormous Deepwater Horizon oil platform 35 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The writers and director know what matters here, and it’s not weepy subplots back on the mainland. After a nifty little homefront opening in which Wahlberg’s character’s wife (Kate Hudson) wants some morning action before her husband heads off to work on the rig for three weeks, precious little time is spent on personal issues. One measure of the creative team’s success here is that Berg and his collaborators have made a film that feels a good deal shorter than it actually is it really does fly by, non-stop. ![]()
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