“I finally made it to the nearby dine in theater! I’d wanted to go right away, but evening ticket prices were way too expensive to justify on a likely crappy movie, and I hadn’t found the right one. Instead, I found the right time, being able to drag my ass there to a before noon show this past weekend. And what Boston girl at heart can resist a Mark Wahlberg movie?
Wahlberg stars in the story of the Deepwater Horizon, the oil rig that caused the BP oil spill a few years back, the largest and most devastating in history. The film aims to give a voice to those workers who were caught in the middle, many of whom lost their lives in the disaster. On that front it is very successful.
The film does not shy away from painting the BP men as the villains of the tale. The blame is almost too much, but in this context, the blame is not undeserved. We see the men who worked hard every day to keep the rig running, who fought back when the authorities tried to cut corners to save money, and who came to each other’s aid during the crisis. The film was very emotional and moving at times.
But it was also a bit of a mess. I have two major beefs with it. One, the dialog was really hard to pick up. Thick southern accents quickly spitting out technical jargon is hard to follow, without subtitles at least. I feel like I missed out on so much because of that. The second issue for me was with the action sequences. The first few blasts looked amazing. At least to my eye, it seemed like they chose practical effects over computers where possible, and it looked fantastic. But then it all just got very muddled. Aside from Wahlberg, I couldn’t really tell who was who, or where people were going, or what they were doing. It was pure chaos. While I’m sure the real event was pure chaos, you want something sleeker on film.
Overall though, I’m glad to have went. The story, incomprehensible dialog, was fascinating. I really appreciated being able to put details to a story that I’d only ever heard in sensationalized generalizations. I also appreciate a story that highlights true every day heroes, and that was certainly was the heart of the film.
Deepwater Horizon – \m/ \m/ \m/”