Deepwater Horizon

By: John Delia

Turning up the heat for a stab at the Oscars, the movie Deepwater Horizon opens this weekend. The fast moving disaster thriller tells the 2010 story of the fatal eruption of the floating drill rig in the Gulf of Mexico by the survivors. The film offers the account of what had happened that disastrous day, but does not allude to the millions of gallons of oil that damaged the wildlife and fishing trade along the Gulf Coast. The destruction looks very real and the acting is magnificent.

I could hardly catch my breath watching this recreation of the awful explosion on the floating well driller with 126 workers on board, including the time leading up to it. Even knowing what was about to happen from media reports at the time did not spoil the intense drama of the true event. Director Peter Berg, who gave us the thriller Lone Survivor, helms this incredible happening. In chronological time, he shows the step by step of everyone involved from the crew arriving for a three month stint on The Horizon and the onboard oil company officials with the mistakes made. He then unleashes the facts showing why it became a disaster and the incomprehensible decisions made once there was a hint of trouble.

This is not a documentary like the one that recently ran on cable TV that shows the devastation to the ecosystem due to the oil intrusion. The stars in the film are well known and give excellent performances as the principals involved, both culpable and innocent. The two main action roles feature Kurt Russell playing Jimmy “Mr. Jimmy” Harrell who is the Transocean Crew Captain and Mark Wahlberg as Mike Williams as the Chief Electric Tech that are the key focus of the story of heroism. A third important character Donald Vidrine, a BP representative on board to crack the whip due to delays in completing the well, does exhibit the greed associated with the oil project and ably portrayed by John Malkovich.

Russell’s role of Jimmy Harrell takes command of the crew coming on board. He’s astounded; however, that the previous crew did not go through specified procedures. He presses Vidrine to allow a run through of a series of tests for safety. In the meantime, Wahlberg’s role as Williams makes rounds checking out the workers involved with the electrical system on board. Both are important to the plot and keep the tension high from this point on.

The filming of the monstrous floating drill rig becomes a star in itself. The massive multistory building on a raft gets a walk through to familiarize people of what it takes to maintain the mile long pipe to the bottom of the sea and the pumps that control the operation on the rig. When the action comes to fever pitch, the cameras are the eyes of the audience as they get close-up views of what happened that ill-fated day. Most of the supporting characters are singled out in order to show their duties and how their job became a part of history that includes quick thinking, self-sacrifice and heroism.

Deepwater Horizon has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for prolonged intense disaster sequences, related disturbing images and brief strong language. The film gets very tense and gives the feel that you are there as it all happens. Not for the skittish or immature teens to tots.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good chance for Oscar nominated performances. (A-)