As a natural disaster
movie, The Perfect Storm creates the kind of frightening realism
few movies have achieved. The spectacle of the huge storm tossing all
sizes of boats in rolling seas and howling winds was marvelously
recreated. We happened to view the film with a friend who recently sold
a sail boat much like the one in the film. Having experienced the fury
of real weather, she was in terror, grabbing us and covering her eyes in
moans and gasps. As nausea, exhaustion, and incapacitating hopelessness
set in, we were in awe of the experience that felt in every way like
really being there. We can only hope that seeing the movie is as close
as we’ll ever get to such natural fury.
Despite the immense
spectacle, though, Perfect Storm suffers from the eternal
conflict between remaining faithful to true events and crafting a great
story. Usually, true stories are not sufficient for a profound cinematic
experience because they lack the emotional subtext of well-developed
characters. This movie, unfortunately feels woefully flat as soon as the
action is diverted from the storm. In addition, we are really guessing
at what happened to the ship Andrea Gail. We know she is fated to sink,
but with no survivors and no trace of the boat, we have no idea what
happened during her last hours.
And so, the film was a
marvelous recreation of the thrill, much like a great theme park ride,
but in the end left us empty. A few weak attempts are made to conjure up
circumstances that would have led men to steam into such a monstrous
storm; a confluence of three weather systems that turned a huge section
of the Atlantic into a death trap. The crew of Andrea Gail may have felt
pressured to save the $200,000 worth of swordfish. They may have been
unaware of the storm because of the broken radio, and they may have been
egged by their sense of macho misadventure to prove their worth on a
boat that was far from perfectly maintained.
But then, the bottom
line is that there will always be dangerous jobs. Fishing the stormy but
bountiful North Atlantic is only one untamed frontier, which draws those
whose sense of risk and adventure is a stronger lure than their sense of
safety and comfort. The crew was a mish-mash of somewhat loveable
misfits who argued and fretted over their cramped quarters and bad luck.
The fish and the chemistry of bonding and dissension seemed to prompt
risks seeking greater rewards.
An interesting twist,
and one supported by reality, is that Linda Greenlaw (Mary Elizabeth
Mastrantonio), the Captain of a sister ship in a safer location, had
great skills and luck as a fisherwoman and boat and crew leader, as well
as the prudence to judge and advise. She tried to warn Billy (Clooney),
but he sloughed her off with understated bravado and seemingly welcome
flirtations and sexual innuendo. In a refreshing role advancement, this
competent woman sought her perfection in a profession traditionally
dominated by men.
The supporting roles
feature some of our favorites, including John C. Reilly, William
Fichtner, and Mark Wahlberg. They played crewmates with strengths and
weaknesses sufficient to make us sympathize their deaths. Though the
Coast Guard Helicopter and Cutter crews were heroically brave, we
wondered if losing lives of rescue workers is too high a price to pay
for those who knowingly take high risks.
If you choose to ponder
such dilemmas not really well dealt with in the movie’s short two
hours, you may want to send us your thoughts for discussion in an
AfterGlow. But then again, you may choose to buy your ticket to this gut
churner for the experience of the thrill, the terror, and the sadness of
The Perfect Storm.
