Summer Cinema: ‘K-19 the Widowmaker’
There seems to be two main groups of people who go to movies. The first group goes just to be entertained. Acting quality, plot and cinematography mean nothing to them. They are only in those plush seats for the laughs and explosions. The second group wants to see a quality movie. Things like length, exposition and grandeur do not bother them when they come together to provide a movie that stimulates the mind. But there are movies that do neither of those things.
Such was the case with “K-19: The Widowmaker.” The film was produced in conjunction with National Geographic, and was more history lesson than entertainment-including the boring lectures and lack of interest. It was based on actual events like “U-571,” but unlike that film the majority of this one is slow moving and hopelessly dull. Like “Pearl Harbor” it delights in dragging out the ending until no one really cares anymore about the outcome.
“K-19” tells the story of a submarine built by the Russian navy to be its flagship in the early 60s. The crew is to travel to the polar ice cap and release a test missile as a message to the United States that they can and will retaliate with nuclear weapons if necessary.
The sub was built under the direction of Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Nesson) who treats his crew like a family. However, it is to be captained at sea by Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) who delights in pushing his crew to extremes and endlessly drilling them on emergency procedures. To crew are a machine to him that needs to be in perfect working order. Polenin is to accompany the crew at sea as the executive officer.
The ship and crew are endangered when a leak develops in the nuclear core. The captains continue to not see eye to eye as they race to fix the problem and keep the sub from exploding and the men from dying of radiation poisoning.
It sounds exciting, but when the majority of the movie deals with panoramic shots of the sub underwater and repetitious shots of life in a submarine, it gets old fast. The dialogue is stale and trite, and the majority of the characters in the show are there to fill space and use air. We don’t know who they are or care what happens to them. The only character we get even remotely emotionally attached to is Vadim Radtchenko (Peter Sarsgaard), the new reactor officer who fears of not being able to return and marry his fiancé.
Once you get past the major difference in Ford and Neeson’s characters they are virtually the same. They have the same acting style, the same fake Russian accents and the same voice inflections when they deliver their lines. Either they were directed to be carbon copies of the same tired stereotype of Russian soldiers or else they weren’t feeling inspired enough to give high-quality performances.
Either way, if you lived and died for lectures on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, than this film may be for you. If you enjoy Adam Sandler comedies or liked Men in Black II, you’ll probably be bored to tears. If you like to be mentally stimulated by films, your brain will be tickled, but probably be like my roommate and sleep through the middle of the film. It’s not that this film is a flop, because it is marginally interesting. It just won’t be able to stand up against the other competition currently in theaters.
Grade: C