On April 20th, 2010, one of the world’s largest man-made disasters occurred on the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.
Deepwater Horizon is directed by Peter Berg and stars Mark Wahlberg. It’s a true story of the workers caught in the horrible oil disaster that occurred on Deepwater Horizon. This was widely publicized as the worst oil disaster in the U.S history and it’s the story of the people who were caught in the middle on this horrible day. The film focuses on events leading up to this disaster, how it possibly could have been prevented and how these people survived. It is also a tribute to those who did not survive the event.
This is not the first true story that Peter Berg has made with Wahlberg. The last one was ‘The Lone Survivor’ and in fact this will not be the last. They also have a movie called ‘Patriots day’ which is also based on true events in the making. So this is movie number two in their unofficial based on true events trilogy. As soon as the disaster begins Deepwater Horizon was a nonstop immaculate mastery. It’s very easy to watch a film like this that technically encompasses nonstop action. Just think that it is mindless without ever actually realizing how much work truly goes on into the technical things on display in this film.
Terrible disaster
This is a very realistic and gritty depiction of a terrible disaster. There is never a moment in this film where I went “that’s a Hollywood moment!” That’s one of those fake moments that make us feel like we’re watching a movie. This film feels very realistic. Aside from some close-up views of inside the oil pipe where we see gear shifting, it almost felt like one of those tube webcams had been stuck down there. It didn’t feel like we were watching a Michael Bay movie so to speak. It felt very ‘in the moment’. All the action was captured extremely well.
Honestly, it’s the same basic structure of ‘The Lone Survivor’. We set up some likable people in the middle of a terrible situation and once that situation goes down and chaos erupt again, it’s nonstop from there to the end just like ‘Lone Survivor’. But it totally works in this movie. A lot of that is due to a surprisingly effective first act. These characters that are set up are actually very well drawn. I expected this film to be technically masterful in regard to all of the stunt work and the explosions. I expected all of that to be done very well.
There’s a great scene where Wahlberg reminded me of me. He takes a lot of pride in his office being perfect and when he asks someone who’s leaving his office wheatear he had touched any of his stuff and the person says “no”. And after he goes in his office and things are moved and turned around and it reminded of me. Whenever a family member comes in here and borrows one of my stuff and puts them back crooked, I notice it. That’s me. I love that quirk that was given to his character. I can relate to his OCD habits with the things that he collected or that he appreciated. His family life with his young daughter who has a school project and his wife played by Kate Hudson - these are all things that help us care more about his character. They really do take the time to set up a natural environment in which all of the people exist and work and it feels completely real.
Halfway point
So when the really bad stuff starts happening you really do care for those characters and you want them to get out of this situation. Kurt Russell is also really good in this movie and there’s a fantastic scene between him and John Malkovich who I did not know was in the movie before watvhing it. He plays one of the higher ups at BP (British Petroleum). This moment occurs towards the halfway point of the movie and it spoke everything that needed to be said with no one even speaking a word. That’s good direction and good acting.
At the end ‘Deepwater Horizon’ was an extremely intense movie that depicted events that happened to people that could have been prevented and it was displayed in a very surprisingly mature way. That is something that I really enjoyed. If you are a fan of ‘Lone Survivor’ I think this movie will probably be up your alley. ‘Deepwater Horizon’ had also received two nominations at the 89th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and for Best Sound Editing.
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