Deepwater Horizon - Glasgow Herald Review

PETER Berg has already proven an expert hand at depicting a real-life tragedy with his depiction of a Navy SEAL mission gone horribly wrong in Lone Survivor. He re-teams with Mark Wahlberg to recreate another tragedy, albeit one that unfolded on a much grander scale, with Deepwater Horizon. The results are similarly impressive.

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, creating the worst ecological disaster in US history and resulting in the loss of 11 lives. The crude oil spill that followed lasted for 87 days and saw 200 million gallons pumped into the sea, affecting 16,000 miles of coastline and killing more than 8,000 animals.

If these facts make for sobering reading, then Berg's film provides a gruelling insight into the moments before and after disaster struck. It's an angry film, in many ways, yet also one that's careful to recognise some of the heroism and sacrifice involved. Hence, while seldom afraid to point the finger of blame at the BP officials who put profit before risk, the film also highlights the individual acts of courage that, according to Berg, became largely overlooked once the environmental impact of the disaster became clear.

That the director achieves this balance without becoming overly patriotic or sentimental makes the film's achievements on a human level all the more striking, as this remains emotionally compelling throughout even when the technical pyrotechnics take over.

The film picks up as everyman engineer Mike Williams (Wahlberg) heads to the Deepwater Horizon, leaving his wife (Kate Hudson) and daughter at home. Tensions on the rig are already high when he arrives, given the pressure being brought to bear on the crew by BP executives (led by John Malkovich's Donald Vidrine) to start drilling, despite the safety concerns of veteran Transocean crew captain Mr Jimmy (Kurt Russell). An uneasy compromise is reached, allowing work to begin, but it soon becomes clear that everyone should have waited.

What follows, in rapid succession, is a series of events in which men frantically attempt to keep nature at bay, only to find themselves fighting a losing battle. Once things turn bad, they spiral spectacularly out of control, resulting in a fire breaking out that - in turn - leads to the explosion.

Berg directs the ensuing chaos with ruthless precision, doing his best to put viewers into the heat of the action. The effect is dizzying and often hard to follow. But that's kind of the point. Explosions come at you from all sides, often when least expected. Lights flicker on and off, making vision restricted. Men shout instructions at each other yet frequently become drowned out by the noise surrounding them. It is, quite literally, pandemonium.

For some viewers, the sheer velocity with which things are directed may be too much. Some might find it frustrating, while others may find it nauseating. But if you're struggling to keep up from the relative comfort of your comfortable cinema seat, then spare a thought for those who actually experienced it, which is the point that Berg is making. This must have been a hell on Earth.

And yet the human element, somewhat incredibly, is never lost. Amid the carnage, acts of heroism took place. Wahlberg's Williams saves colleagues without the camera ever dwelling too long for effect. Russell's Mr Jimmy remains steadfast in his attempts to save the crew and the rig until the point of no return is reached. The desperation to survive is palpable, as is the anger and frustration at not having been listened to.

If Berg has been unfavourably compared to Michael Bay at times in his career, owing to big budget misfires such as Battleship, then here he displays the lean efficiency and clarity of Paul Greengrass in Captain Phillips mode. As if to underline that point, he even reserves a quiet moment at the end to observe Williams at his most emotional, relieved but broken emotionally and physically by the ordeal at hand. It affords Wahlberg, arguably, his finest acting moment to date, and one that also bears comparison to Captain Phillips and Tom Hanks's striking breakdown at the end of that film. But again, it doesn't feel forced or manipulated, rather earned. Deepwater Horizon may not linger on the scale of the environmental calamity that followed in the months and years following the explosion. But it leaves you in no doubt that this was an entirely preventable tragedy. It's a spectacular piece of cinema.