Film: Deepwater Horizon
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Kurt Russel
Despite having the kind of ensemble cast that most directors would kill to have in a Transformers movie, Deepwater Horizon’s director Peter Berg keeps the spotlight firmly on the fire. What fire could be hotter than Mark Wahlberg and Kate Hudson spooning, you ask? The kind that burns for 87 days after an oil rig explodes and wrecks marine life for centuries to come.
A biopic that is almost a blow-by-blow retelling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that turned the worlds wrath on British Petroleum, Deepwater Horizon makes for some horrific viewing. In the sense that I didn’t think I could end up feeling more incensed about BP and their callous staff any more than I did, but watching it unfold like it does here, it sure as hell sparked that fire off again. That’s activism of the highest order for you, especially because this is based on a newspaper piece, uses real names and footage and strikes at the heart of BP and their corporate callousness - down to the proclamation that none of those indicted for the horrific disaster were charged. Quite frankly, I’m surprised BP even let the studios make this movie.
The story follows the workers on an oil rig ÿ named the Deepwater Horizon — as they inch towards getting the oil out of the seabed. Except, they are 53 days past schedule and the guys from BP decide to cut corners. So BP bigwig Donald Vidrine (a sufficiently slimy John Malkovich) orders the cement workers, who are tasked with firming the rig to the drill line, off the boat before it has had time to set, or necessary tests are run. “We didn’t get to being a 56 billion dollar company by waiting around for tests,” he says. It still isn’t funny.
Rig chief James ‘Jimmy’ Hartwell (Kurt Russel) isn’t happy about it and wants them to run a few tests but they push their way through when he’s taking a break and decide to start pumping the mud out. Results, are everything, after all, as Vidrine reminds us. That’s when all hell breaks loose. The line blows and oil splatters all around the rig and its a matter of time before fire enters the equation and the rest, is like a high school rendition of Dante’s Inferno.
Visually, the movie is a compelling retelling of one of the greatest environmental disasters of our time. But as entertainment, it can be a drag after a while. Simply because, unlike Sully, which had a heavy sense of the dramatic, this is more like Everest — stark, linear, no fluff, no drama. And that’s a tragedy because ethernet got some great talent out on that rig. To have all of them come to the party and not set off the fireworks, forgive the unfortunate pun, is a bit like making Titanic without the whole Jack and Rose track. Ship. Iceberg. Sink. Death.
But I will give them this: without the star cast, not many people would have dubbed it a documentary and not given it the time of day, so at least the story’s out there now — on the biggest screens.