The disaster film genre may trade in spectacular sights of both natural and man-made destruction; however in cinema, as in life, the true drama resides in the details. Knowing the general gist of a story and bearing witness to the bigger picture — say, a semi-submersible offshore oil drilling rig exploding, for example — may elicit an immediate reaction, but that response runs deeper if it’s evoked by intricacies and information grounded in character and circumstances, rather than by broad strokes. In bringing the real-life Deepwater Horizon incident to the screen, director Peter Berg (Lone Survivor) and writers Matthew Michael Carnahan (World War Z) and Matthew Sand (Ninja Assassin) understand this, and their feature is all the better for it.
Based on a New York Times’ article by David Rohde and Stephanie Saul, Deepwater Horizon chronicles the worst oil disaster in US history, focusing on the events leading up to the catastrophic occurrence as well as the actions of those intimately involved once mud and more starts gushing from below. And while that might sound like a standard disaster movie methodology, it’s how Berg plunges into this tale that’s telling, thrilling and effective. The veteran filmmaker doesn’t eschew the penchant for workman-like action and fondness for American heroism that has seen him forge a two-decade helming career; instead, he leans into both, without ever overplaying his hand. Accordingly, the old-fashioned end result isn’t carnage and patriotism unleashed, but greed condemned, competence highlighted and bravery laid bare.
Delving into a day that time has now immortalised, the film unravels the timeline of April 20, 2010. Chief electrical technician Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg, Daddy’s Home) spends the morning with his wife Felicia (Kate Hudson, Mother’s Day) and adolescent daughter (Stella Allen, Free State of Jones), before venturing back to the Transocean-owned, BP-leased platform for a planned 21-day stint. Site manager Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell, The Hateful Eight) and deputy dynamic positioning officer Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez, TV’s Jane the Virgin) are also among those returning, accompanied by two visiting oil company executives. More of the latter, including the particularly goal-oriented Vidrine (John Malkovich, Zoolander 2), are already on board, expressing their displeasure that the project is 43 days behind schedule — and pushing staff to speed up their efforts assembling the equipment that will drill into the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s with a suitably solemn tone that Deepwater Horizon steps from family breakfasts to airport chatter to on-site arguments, and with a precise feel for mood and exacting eye for minutiae as well. Befitting cinematographer Enrique Chediak’s (The 5th Wave) naturalistic style, editing duo Gabriel Fleming (Teen Wolf) and Colby Parker Jr.’s (Ant-Man) jumping from leisurely to urgent as the plot dictates, and the overall insistence on championing the deeds and sacrifices of ordinary folks, the film is fashioned as much from the moments behind the shocking tragedy that took 11 lives as the outcome when the so-called “well from hell” starts to rumble.
Indeed, there’s little fuss in dealing with either; conversations drip with curt orders and rapid-fire technical jargon but convey the complexities and heighten the stakes, while the use of real sets coupled with scaled-back special effects and expert sound design proves immersive but never gratuitous. The feature’s most heavy-handed touch — a spurting soft drink can Mike’s daughter uses for a class project explaining his job — stands out even more because the majority of content that follows is treated in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Just like interest and emotion, tension flows from as plausible an approximation of reality that a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster about an actual recent scenario can provide. It’s the classical and straightforward approach, and it works, engages and entertains, as do reliable everyman-like performances from Wahlberg, Russell and Rodriguez. As the obvious villain of the piece, Malkovich is less nuanced but crucially adds to the pressure-soaked atmosphere, just as his character’s valuing of profits over safety does in the narrative. And yet, the actor’s initially menacing, eventually fearful glare remains as believable as everything around him; there, as in the movie as a whole, the devil really is in the details.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
Deepwater Horizon
Director: Peter Berg
USA, 2016, 107 mins
Release date: 6 October
Distributor: Roadshow
Rated: M
Actors:
Director:
Format:
Country:
Release:
