'Perfect Storm' imperfectly told

By STEVE PERSALL

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 30, 2000

Special effects occasionally drown out the real-life story behind this tragic tempest.

The doomed crew members of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat sunk in 1991 by a meteorological nightmare, are the heroes of The Perfect Storm. Dying in the wrong place at the wrong time isn't the usual measure of valor in a movie.

Victims of this true-life catastrophe were on a mission of commerce, not mercy or justice, six affable roughnecks, according to Sebastian Junger's book and now Wolfgang Petersen's film.

The tragedy has particular meaning on Florida's west coast, where four of the victims previously fished and made friends.

The brother of Bob Shatford, played in the film by Mark Wahlberg, still sails from Pinellas County. The widow of captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) lives in Sarasota and has said that the film revived her grief.

From this landlubber's point of view, with more sense and less ego those six sailors might be alive today. There are no bad guys in The Perfect Storm, only bad decisions.

'Perfect Storm': A better book or movie? Perhaps its brutal finality is better comprehended on the page than on the screen.

That is precisely what hoists Petersen's movie above the disaster-flick angle that Warner Bros. is touting because the studio wants a hit. The second half of The Perfect Storm -- the weakest portion -- certainly has its share of Irwin Allen-style moments. These are impressive storm effects, yet so familiar through repetition that Petersen even adds a chomping shark to liven things.

The virtue of Petersen's film is making the audience understand why those poor decisions were made: the irresistible attraction of the open sea, the financial bind of laborers living paycheck-to-paycheck and their impolite alliance against the 9-to-5 world. Realizing their emotional tides makes fate seem less foolhardy.

The Perfect Storm begins with the Andrea Gail returning to Gloucester with another lackluster haul of swordfish. Some people wonder whether Billy has lost his touch, especially the Andrea Gail's owner (Michael Ironside). Billy has something to prove, displaying a hint of Ahab in his quick turnaround to Atlantic waters.

Several crew members have problems and dreams on dry land. Bobby recently has fallen in love with Christina (Diane Lane), stashing away funds for a wedding. "Murph" Murphy (John C. Reilly) is divorced because of his absenteeism but still hopes for a reunion. Seedy-looking "Bugsy" Moran (John Hawkes) finally meets a woman who could become more than a tavern pick-up.

Good writing and crisply understated performances turn these subplots into reasons for characters to take risks, and for viewers to hope for happy endings.

Petersen and screenwriter William D. Witliff find nobility in these small lives. An honest day's work seems phony in many films, often portrayed as cleaner or cushier than the real thing. Blue-collar desperation simply isn't glamorous by Hollywood standards.

The Perfect Storm doesn't always keep its opposing goals of introspection and popcorn danger on an even keel. At least the filmmakers offer something beyond the crashing waves and driving rains of soundstage danger. When the storm arrives, it doesn't achieve a fraction of the personality of the people being affected. The alternative would be Twister, when hail had more fury than the cardboard heroes.

If you've seen crashing waves and driving rain, you've seen Petersen's version of three major storms colliding. Maybe not as extended, since theaters could sell Dramamine at the concession stand for this one. Christopher McDonald pops up occasionally as a TV weather man gushing about his Doppler readings, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio worries over a ham radio. Neither makes this material seem any different from White Squall.

That must be why Witliff starts improvising, adding cliffhanger elements that can't be confirmed because all witnesses are dead. A shark washes on board and attacks Bobby; Billy gets slammed around by a jammed mast. Tempers flare between Murph and "Sully" Sullivan (William Fichtner) until things get sticky.

Some devices work because Petersen (Das Boot, In the Line of Fire) has a knack for staging tense sequences. Others, like the shark, are obvious reaches to the summertime crowd. Cutting to a sailboat also caught in the storm is merely an excuse for more water and wind machines, turning good actors (Cherry Jones, Karen Allen, Bob Gunton) into panicked props.

We can understand Petersen's bad decisions as well as the Andrea Gail's. Disaster movies without disaster are pointless. Most of them fit that description anyway.

The Perfect Storm excels at making ordinary lives special before sacrificing them to the special effects gods. Makes you wonder if common folk must die spectacularly before anyone makes a major motion picture about them.

Movie review

The Perfect Storm
GRADE: B
DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Petersen
CAST: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
SCREENPLAY: William D. Witliff, based on the book by Sebastian Junger
RATING: PG-13; profanity, mild violence
RUNNING TIME: 125 min.