In this one the story follows the crew of the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail. As the movie opens they arrive at their home port of Gloucester, Massachussets following a month of poor fishing. The captain, Billy Tyne (George Clooney) is getting a bit desperate. He hasn't had a good catch in a long time. It's the end of the season but Tyne decides on a quick turnaround to get one more trip in. His crew grumbles but with the exception of one man headed south for the season, they go along. Tyne quickly adds a replacement and they take off.
Luck is still not with them though and Tyne decides to leave the Grand Banks for the more difficult Flemish Cap to try and turn things around. It works and they have a huge catch. Unfortunately the ice machine breaks down meaning so they must head home immiediately or risk losing it all. The problem is that a hurricane is heading up the Atlantic behind them. They decide to go for it not knowing that the hurricane has collided with two other storms to make a meteorological monster of previously unknown preportions.
The set up of the movie moves a bit slowly as it tries to flesh out its characters. The reason for this is that once the storm hits their isn't time for that anymore. We learn that one crew member, Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), is trying to earn enough money to start a new life with girlfriend Chis (Diane Lane). Another crew member, Murph, has lost his marriage due to his career and struggles to find time for his son. These kinds of details are important because it makes the plight of these men caught in the fury of the storm that much scarier.
The book is based on the popular non-fiction book by Sebastian Junger that details the events of the 1991 Halloween storm. The movie does an excellent job of adapting the book, leaving out things of little interest to movie goers and tightening the story a bit to make it flow better on screen.
The real reason to see this movie is the spectacle of this monster of a storm. The special effects are absolutely top notch. It is exceedingly easy to believe that this was filmed at sea in the midst of a massive storm. Huge waves toss small ships around like they are nothing. Large ships are pushed around like toys. The simple act of going out on deck becomes potentially deadly. The scenes within the storm are well worth the price of admission alone.
The movie is greatly enjoyable and creates real tension. Having read the book I already knew the outcome but was still pulled along by movie. Mostly my few tiny problems with the movie revolve the Navy rescue divers sent out during the storm. A lot of attention was paid to them in the book and it made for perhaps the most gripping part of the book. In the movie we don't really get a chance to meet and know them, which makes steals a bit of the nobility and heroism from their roles. That's not to say they aren't portrayed in a good light. I just thought they deserved more. Considering the movie's running time of just over an hour though, it's hard to think of a way to give them more screen time.
What it comes down to though is witnessing the awesome spectacle of one of the most powerful events on earth, right at it's heart. This movie should provide viewers with a new found respect for the power of hurricanes and the ocean. The characters in the movie serve to provide some emotional resonance to the forces at work. This is why I compared the movie to Jurassic Park. The characters are secondary to witnessing something amazingly powerful like we've never seen it before in a movie.
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