Directed by:
Wolfgang PetersenScreenplay:
William D. WittliffCinematography:
John SealeComposer:
James HornerCast:
George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, Karen Allen, William Fichtner, Bob Gunton, John C. Reilly, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, John Hawkes (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
It's Halloween, 1991. Near Gloucester, Massachusetts, the six members of the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat, head out to sea for their last trip of the season. Unbeknownst to them, a shockingly brutal storm is slowly gaining steam. Before the National Weather Bureau has a chance to inform the crew of the impending danger, it's too late. The resulting battle with three merging weather fronts--an unheralded natural disaster--is grueling and tragic. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (7)
The acting is handled brilliantly (Clooney's captain in particular is more than believable), there's nothing to criticize about the directing (the final sound flashback leaves a significantly more positive impression than I originally thought), but because of the screenplay, it is unable to get past the routine, familiar patterns of the genre.
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A great film with a surprising, non-Hollywood ending – but since it’s based on a true story, they couldn’t end it in any other way. Otherwise, had I seen it on TV, I would give it three stars, because the way the people at ILM created those stormy seas can only be enjoyed in the big screen. But I’m not saying anything new.
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Petersen's Hollywood standard, which has traditionally been based on the great heroism of the main characters, who are written in a way that is just enough to make the viewer like them. From leisurely fishing, the manly Clooney and the romantic Wahlberg, etc., get into the heart of a terrifying storm, in which the hitherto suspiciously calm and supple film begins to take a turn. It's more a case of a breathtaking effects than some big directorial input that makes The Perfect Storm a good film. Even the acting performances are not exactly top of the line - let's say they are typical for the genre. All in all, this theatre about a bunch of fishermen works exactly as it's supposed to. If Petersen didn’t overdo it at the end (which resembles an explosion of a vanilla warehouse), it would have been a full-on spectacle.
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The cast is great, the visual effects are excellent and the film’s dramatic poetics are also pleasant – it’s not just another popcorn, eye-candy disaster movie. The script, however, is too contrived, unoriginal and predictable, as if it was written at the last minute. What, for example, was that secondary storyline with the helicopter rescue of the boat passengers supposed to mean when it was in no way related to the rest of the film’s plot?
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Wolfgang Petersen can credit himself with another proper piece of craftsmanship. His storm may not be that perfect, but in the parade of commercial and rather light-hearted adventures of the last few years, it does deserve a proud and prominent position, if only because it's not Roland Emmerich and his apocalypse in 500 different ways. The Perfect Storm makes much more of a narrative effort, trying to get closer to the main characters, all while striving to make the final natural fury fully impact the viewer in front of the screen. What's more, it manages to combine a dramatic face with excellent visuals, which is a huge plus, especially as the story builds up in the middle of the ocean. And the fact that the script sometimes feels a bit sloppy and disorganized is quite tolerable in this case. 80%
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