 | The Perfect Storm Starring: George Clooney, Mark Walhberg, Diane Lane, Cherry Jones, Nancy Allen, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, John C. Reilly |
In 1982 director Wolfgang Petersen received six Academy Award nominations for his German production of "Das Boot." Critics from all over the world were singing the praises of this excellent, yet severely edited, film. In 1991 Petersen re-edited "Das Boot" to its original length of 209 minutes, adding approximately 60 minutes to the original version. "Das Boot" (the director's cut) was highly acclaimed as a masterpiece. This version is available on video but it's doubtful that it will ever be seen on the big screen. All of this acclaim brought Petersen to Hollywood and a successful yet somewhat undistinguished career as director/producer ("Air Force One," "Line of Fire," "Outbreak"). Petersen has yet to fulfil the creative promise he displayed in "Das Boot." With "The Perfect Storm," Petersen returns to the sea with an exciting tale based on a true story as depicted in the best selling book by Sebastian Junger. The book tells the story of the ill-fated swordfishing boat Andrea Gail as it was helplessly caught in the mergence of three powerful storms in 1991 off Gloucester, Massachusetts. It's the story of Captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney), an experienced commercial fisherman, who becomes obsessed after an embarrassing season of poor catches. The book is filled with powerful relationships between the crew, their families, the community of Gloucester, and the captain. It ends with the exciting yet failed effort by Capt. Tyne, his crew, and the U.S. Coast Guard to save the Andrea Gail from the destructive power of the Perfect Storm. With a great story, excellent cast, and plenty of money, Petersen had a lot to work with. Unfortunately, "The Perfect Storm" (The Film) is a Perfect Disaster. The film begins just fine with a documentary approach to the "swordboats" returning to Gloucester with their catches. Great shots of fishermen unloading, packing the fish in ice, and settling in after a long voyage at sea. Just as we began to see who these men are and how they relate to families, friends, and community, the film abruptly changes. Suddenly an obsessed Capt. Tyne has formed his crew overnight and they are sailing out to sea again "to catch more fish than you can imagine!" They leave a sorrowful community waving tearfully on shore. It appears that the town knows these guys aren't coming back (maybe they read the book). One would tend to blame Petersen for this but I have the feeling some empty headed studio executive, at editing time, said, "Cut the Crap! Let's get to the STORM! That's what the audience is paying to see!" Pushing the envelope and going far out to sea, the captain gets his catch. Filling his boat to capacity with fish, the ice machine breaks and it becomes imperative that they return to Gloucester ASAP before the fish spoil. Captain Tyne is notified, by radio, that a terrible storm is coming and they should wait in the calm waters and let the storm blow out. The captain and crew vote on whether they should wait and risk spoiling the fish or head into the storm and get back to port. Of course, they vote to sail into the storm. This doesn't ring true. I don't believe an experienced captain would ask his crew for a major decision such as this. A captain's first responsibility is to bring his crew back safely. A director's responsibility, apparently, is to please the empty headed studio executive. We get the storm. Warner Brother's computer animation department did the rest of the film. Impressive, yet after so many minutes of towering waves, rain and lighting, the whole film takes on an unreal quality. The terrible music score doesn't help. After a half-hour one wishes the ship would sink. With weak story and character development you really don't care. Gone are the suspense, accuracy, and dynamics of the original story. Even the meteorologist's appearances have been cut to a few scenes ending with "Oh my God! It's happening!" A 15-second explanation of the worst storm to hit the eastern seaboard in history is just not enough. I would assume the best part of performances by the excellent actors, Cherry Jones and Nancy Allen, are lying on the cutting room floor. As two ladies stranded on a playboy's yacht caught in the middle of the storm, their action is limited to screams and jumping into the water to be rescued by the Coast Guard. Only George Clooney and Diane Lane manage to give strong performances, in spite of the storm. Perhaps one day, on video, we will see Petersen's original concept for this film with "The Perfect Storm" (the director's cut). Until then, this is poor, embarrassing substitute for the true tragedy of the Andrea Gail. |