Review of Deepwater Horizon (2016) by Spangle — 11 Feb 2017

Director Peter Berg has found a niche. He is not a good director in the least. He is guy that claims to be "one for them, one for me", but his films continuously seem to be "one for America, and then another for America" at this point. Deepwater Horizon is no different. Yet, it is somehow a good film with a great sense of scope. A celebration of average joe heroes who saved lives during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the negligence on the part of BP that led to this disaster, Deepwater Horizon is an accessible, smart, and powerful film that may pull a little too hard on the viewer's heart strings at the end, but is undeniably thrilling and a riveting portrayal of the disaster. It is not a film that rushes to the finale, rather building tension until the pressure is too much and the whole thing blows up into a cloud of fire.

Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) is the Chief Electric Technician on the Deepwater Horizon. James "Mr. Jimmy" Harrell (Kurt Russell) is the head honcho. The two show incredible courage throughout the escapade and save people left and right, even after they are battered and broken. Casting Wahlberg and Russell in these roles is a stroke of genius as they are perfect fits for these modern heroes. Going above and beyond the call of duty, the men sacrifice themselves and their bodies to try and save as many people as possible. Racing across the ship to try a last ditch effort to save the rig and then jumping from the rig itself, Mike Williams' actions after the explosion are incredible, including saving multiple men from the accommodations. Injured and with one eye swollen shut, Mr. Jimmy is a man that never stops to take his hand off the wheel. Once he gets up, he is not going down again until everybody is safe and the rig is clear. Even afterwards, he calls roll to determine who made it off and who lost their lives. Wahlberg and Russell are classic tough guys and really show why in this film with good performances as these real life heroes.

Yet, this really drives at the point of the film. Williams in particular gets the most character development of anybody with a wife and daughter waiting his return at home. He is a family man, the quintessential American. With a single American flag waving on the ship and in the aftermath (oh the national anthem call out, "THE FLAG STILL WAVING OR WHATEVER"...i.e. the flag is still waving as the rig burns in the background, poetic and overtly patriotic), Berg stuffs the heroism down our throat, but makes it work. The film is tense, thrilling, and action-packed. He may go too American and too hard on the celebration of heroes in this one, but these men do deserve praise for their actions and then patriotism is limited to just a few shots. In essence, he reins it in a bit for this one and lets the men do the talking.

However, the key to this film is the explosion and the ensuing fire. With phenomenal sound effects and tremendous visual effects, this is where the huge budget for the film went it paid off. The film will probably not be profitable because of the budget being too high, but as a film, it really paid dividends. The film U-571 is still cited as one of the best films to test to see if a new sound system is working out well, but it may need to be updated to Deepwater Horizon. The sound is simply that good. The explosion, the chaos, and all of the tension leading up to it is impeccable and really what this film rides on throughout. Without it, Deepwater Horizon would not be nearly as good as it, especially considering how little meat is on this bone. Using a pair of men as scapegoats for everything and not covering the punishments faced by BP, the film does include some real court footage but leaves out any information regarding the financial repercussions for BP. The only updates are regarding the dead and the two men who were shown in the film as being direct causes for the disaster. Unfortunately, the film does such a poor job of developing anyone other than Mike Williams, the death of the other characters are not felt at all, instead being reduced to background carnage. Seemingly recognizing this, Berg shows a montage at the end of the real men with their families. A touching moment, it does feel like a band-aid to make up for the fact that he only focused on one man for the whole film.

Thrilling, entertaining, and with tremendous sound editing and visual effects, Deepwater Horizon is a film that is a bit thin with regards to its writing, but never ceases to be a powerful and utterly compelling experience. That said, boy does it ever do justice to Mike Williams and his wife. Not to be disparaging, as I am the last one to criticize based on looks, but these people are not Mark Wahlberg and Kate Hudson. Not even close. Few are, but these people are just your average citizens, yet Berg casts Mark "Muscles" Wahlberg and Kate "Brad Pitt's New Girl" Hudson as them. I would be honored if I was the Williams family.