Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Director: Peter Berg
Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Matthew Sand. David Rohde, Stephanie Saul (article "Deepwater Horizon's Final Hours")
Cast: Mark Wahlberg (Mike Williams), Kurt Russell (Jimmy Harrell), Douglas M. Griffin (Landry), James DuMont (O'Bryan), Joe Chrest (Sims), Gina Rodriguez (Andrea Fleytas), John Malkovich (Vidrine), and Dylan O'Brien as Caleb Haolloway.
Opening Credits:
As i sit here writing this i can only reflect back to that dreadful day on 2010. The day the oil spilled, the disaster was large enough to make the world wake up. Or did it? That is the unanswered question that we have to answer, truthfully. Did this disaster really happen because of a mistake, or was there another motive here. The big corporate bigwigs only thought about the money, period. Why else would the rig blow up to cinders. Money, money, and money. I guess the bigwigs didn't really care about the situation, or about the rigs safety parameters. Not here to bash any company, or people, that's not what i do. The film's point of view is of the people on the rig, and the events that took the lives of 11 workers, and billions of oil hit the Gulf of Mexico killing millions if not more, wildlife.
A big smile and prayer goes out to the families of those who died. The rest of the crew who made it, i give you guys a huge, "Thank God your alive." These folks risked their lives each day, and to that i'm amazed at the hard work and effort you give to make the rig or any rig in operation, your jobs are hard as it is, and very grateful to have people like yourselves to do what you do. Just to put things in perspective, the guys who make it happen on the oil rigs didn't want this movie made, because they wanted healing. To me is pretty understandable, and a huge thank you to Mike Williams for his bravery, and to all the workers on every rig around the world, because this job is dangerous and should be recognized. Very little credit is given to these guys, and gals, but today, i give these guys a huge huge, and a smile.
Review:
(An audio recording of the actual Mike William's hearing. The testimony in court, and the accounts of that day)
Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) wakes up to his wife, Felicia (Kate Hudson). She had a dream about a rabbit, a very large rabbit mimicking every move. Her smile is big, she looks at her husband as she continues the story. It came out the rabbit was her mother, and he smiles back in somewhat a disagreement. Getting up and getting ready for the day is on his mind. But Felicia's smile always hits him hard, no matter where he is.
After they get dressed, Felicia (Hudson) makes breakfast while they listen to their daughter Sydney (Stella Allen). She has a presentation in school. The presentation is about her dad working on an oil rig, explains the process in her terms. Sydney continues to practice her presentation in front of her parents. She even goes into something a bit different. Her dad "tames the dinosaurs", and reminds him that she would like proof, bring back something so that she could show her classmates. Sydney would like to have a fossil. The family laughs, and her little experiments erupts. Laughter continues as the scene fades.
The film critics strike again, and this time they mention how this film was different then the real life counter parts. how did they deduct that? In my opinion, the film was done with taste. It even went into the lives of the main character, Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg). The critic or review i read, he writes that the film makers made it to action like. And that the sequences weren't very good. I highly disagree with the guy; I mean the movie was not an action flick, they focused on the events leading to the disaster. They only chose some of the workers and the story. Mike Williams was the one focused on here, not the whole crew. That would be a disaster movie waiting to happen. Do you want a three hour documentary, or something else. I realize that the movie is based on reality, but common guys. It had great scenes, especially with John Malkovich who played Vidrine. The writer called Malkovich a comic bad guy. Then lets call Mark Wahlberg's character Batman then. Critics really get me, because this whole comic comparison is wrong. What about giving tribute, or just telling the story from the point of view of Mike Williams. He was the consultant for the film, after all he was on location, and experienced a massive disaster. So i disagree with the guy who reviewed the film, in fact he completely is wrong. But is entitled to his opinion.
This is the first time Kate Hudson and her stepfather Kurt Russell had scenes together, which was awesome. Both actors are good, and having them in a scene, especially when they're related to each other is a wonderful thing. The acting alone here was amazing. They had Dylan O'Brien who if you folks don't remember him, he's the actor in that TV show, Teen Wolf on MTV. Still doesn't jog your memory, then watch the Maze Runner. The guy could act, and i'm really glad he is in more roles, because his hard work has earned him a place at the top. Trace Adkins is in the film (Massive Man), a country singer turned actor. So the critic had said that the men jumping from one platform to another was unrealistic. Number one, these guys had to escape right? what if they needed to jump, which they did, but to make it sound like an extreme action film is wrong. Either way the film was more than good, it was emotional, and spirited. Especially towards the end, where the crew prayed. At the end of his review he mentioned, complained that the crew prayed, wasn't realistic. Really! What are they supposed to do, they prayed together because it was a time of need. The rig had exploded, water, fire, debris, an act of love. A surge in emotion, so they prayed together like the story was told. If it were wrong, then tell Mike Williams how wrong he is. This is how he told the story, i surly wasn't there, but he was. Who i'm i to tell someone there wrong, because of the pure surge of emotion at the end.
The first Act you get the introduction to all characters in play. Act 2 comes right along with the mystery, and some revelations. By Act 3 the film should pretty much roll, and have the story wrapped up, which here in Deepwater Horizon it did all those things. But this film is drama thriller based on true events that happened. Either way Mike Williams was on set as a consultant, he was the only one out of the workers that thought this film should be made. Others were against it, with that knowledge alone should tell you that everything always comes full circle. The story needed to be told, and if the film makes these men heroes, then so be it. Because at the end of the day, these guys are human. They come home to their families like everyone else. The work is dangerous, on all levels. With that being said, remember this disaster took the lives of 11 workers, but what about the wildlife? Millions of the oil spill spewed out into the Gulf of Mexico. The wildlife can't call for help. The wildlife can't escape the mass destructive power of that magnitude. In the film at least they had a scene of the wildlife being affected by this tragic event that to me could've been avoided. Not a lawyer, but what i saw, on the news that dreadful day was horrific. The information we got was that BP was at fault, according to the news. And shame on them if the actual events were true according from the film's standpoint.
Overall as a movie this film was good, but hard to watch because of the knowledge we hold in, and remember that horrible day. Not blaming one man, but if the call to continue drilling, even if the safety parameters were off, even a bit would cost them billions in order to save lives, wildlife, then stop altogether and figure out the problem. But that didn't happen, instead they continued and a massive oil spill killed wildlife, and took 11 workers to their graves, because of money. 43 days, and nothing. The clock is ticking, and money was the cause of it. The root of all evil right? Wrong it's the hearts of men. We are the ones that are evil. Money is only paper, and in the end we as human beings have to live with the decisions we make. As a film standpoint this was superb from the beginning till the very end. The Director gave the real life counter parts credit, actual footage was used, and to me that brings a smile to my face. The main gist of this film is simply inexcusable act of greed. BP didn't have to continue, in fact wait, and make sure things are in the right before everything goes very wrong. The act wasn't just one man, but a corporation that knew of the problems, and called the green light to drill. So yes greed, and the bad call is at fault. The planet we live in is just as important as the very paper that we write on. Wildlife, people, everything on this planet is important, and when we realize that then we are better human beings.
Overall as a movie this film was good, but hard to watch because of the knowledge we hold in, and remember that horrible day. Not blaming one man, but if the call to continue drilling, even if the safety parameters were off, even a bit would cost them billions in order to save lives, wildlife, then stop altogether and figure out the problem. But that didn't happen, instead they continued and a massive oil spill killed wildlife, and took 11 workers to their graves, because of money. 43 days, and nothing. The clock is ticking, and money was the cause of it. The root of all evil right? Wrong it's the hearts of men. We are the ones that are evil. Money is only paper, and in the end we as human beings have to live with the decisions we make. As a film standpoint this was superb from the beginning till the very end. The Director gave the real life counter parts credit, actual footage was used, and to me that brings a smile to my face. The main gist of this film is simply inexcusable act of greed. BP didn't have to continue, in fact wait, and make sure things are in the right before everything goes very wrong. The act wasn't just one man, but a corporation that knew of the problems, and called the green light to drill. So yes greed, and the bad call is at fault. The planet we live in is just as important as the very paper that we write on. Wildlife, people, everything on this planet is important, and when we realize that then we are better human beings.
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