DISASTER AT SEA
MARK WAHLBERG FIGHTS FOR SURVIVAL IN TERRIFYING TRUE TALE ‘DEEPWATER HORIZON’
A better film than expected, “Deepwater Horizon” is a cautionary disaster film for our times about endangered American workers as well as a disastrous oil spill, all the result of a corporate giant's greed and its failure to maintain simple safety standards.
The film is based on the true story of the oil rig workers on the “semi-submersible” drilling platform known as Deepwater Horizon and leased by multinational oil giant BP (British Petroleum). In opening scenes set in 2009, we meet troubleshooter-electrician Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg, also executive producer), his “country gal” wife, Felicia (Kate Hudson), and their cute dinosaur-obsessed daughter Sydney (Stella Allen).
Mike works for rig boss Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) and is about to start a three-week shift on board the rig. Mike, whose mantra is, “Hope is not a tactic,” and his boss “Mr. Jimmy,” who is superstitious about the color magenta, which signifies the highest alert on board the rig, have a team of workers, several of whom work in the “drill shack,” running pipe thousands of feet long to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
Also on board the rig is a capable young woman named Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez), a pilot who steers the vast floating machine, using its four giant propellers. Jimmy often butts heads with the arrogant representatives of BP, especially the malignant executive Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich).
While I might argue we get altogether too many ominous shots of pipes and bubbling sand on the ocean floor as prep for the catastrophic explosions, director Peter Berg, who has completed the real-life Boston Marathon bombing drama “Patriots Day,” does a better job keeping track of the plot, developing the film's characters and telling a more engrossing story than he did in “Battleship” or “Lone Survivor.” The film gives all of its explosions a human context, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Wahlberg has great chemistry with Hudson, who is also very good in opening scenes. He brings street cred and salt-of-the-earth authenticity to all-American hero Mike. Screenwriters Matthew Michael Carnahan (“World War Z”) and Matthew Sand (“Ninja Assassin”) also excel, telling this tale of the “well from hell” with conviction and compassion.
Stick around to meet some of the real Deepwater Horizon workers over the end credits. Don't be surprised if BP harasses these filmmakers. (“Deepwater Horizon” contains violent, gruesome imagery and profanity.)