Review of White Squall (1996) by Alison O — 12 Dec 2005

Best in Show: Jeff Bridges.

One for the future: Jeremy Sisto.

Stand-out scene: White squall.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

TV.

Between 1492: Conquest of Paradise and G. I. Jane, Ridley Scott directed this boy's own coming of age drama. Dead Poets Society on the high seas, it tells of an American Sea Captain's attempts to - excuse the pun - give rudderless boys a purpose in life by literally showing them the ropes aboard ship. Based on the real-life exploits of Christopher 'Skipper' Sheldon (and Jeff Bridges is perfectly cast as the hard but fair salty seadog) this undeservedly flopped at the box office. At times the movie does slip into manipulative schmaltz territory but on the whole, this is a rewarding ensemble drama featuring some fine acting. Scott Wolf is Charles 'Chuck' Grieg, a moderately bright boy who has been living in the shadow of his brainbox brother. Wanting to break free from his father's rigid plans for him he signs up for a stretch aboard the Albatross; Sheldon's vessel. There he bonds with a disparate bunch of aspiring (and reluctant) sailors, amongst them spoiled rich boy Frank Beaumont (Sisto) and a vertigo-stricken Gil Martin (a 22 year-old Ryan Phillippe). Also aboard is Sheldon's wife Alice, the ship's doctor (Caroline Goodall). The mainbrace splicing and jolly rogering all comes to an end, however, when The Albatross is caught in the white squall of the title and some souls are lost. At the ensuing enquiry, Sheldon's Captain's licence is in danger of being revoked and like any good sea captain he's willing to shoulder the burden of responsibility alone. Predictable maybe, but Scott shows a deft hand at ensemble work here, even if the movie is too long. The good work he later went on to do in the similarly-themed boys' own story Black Hawk Down probably owes a lot to the lessons he learned here, so we've a lot to thank this movie for. Recommended.