REVIEW: ‘Deepwater Horizon’ a magnificent catastrophe
Feb. 4, 2017, UHCL’s Human Factors and Ergonomic Society along with the Office of Student Life’s Film and Speaker Series hosted a screening of “Deepwater Horizon,” which is based on actual events that took place April 20, 2010, leaving 11 dead and injuring 17 others, subsequently becoming the worst oil spill in history.
Director Peter Berg, who also directed movies such as “Lone Survivor” and “Friday Night Lights,” did a tremendous job of depicting the events that took place on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on that horrible day.
“Deepwater Horizon” starts off pleasantly enough; viewers get some insight into the main character, Chief Electrician Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) and his family, as well as Positioning Officer Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez). Berg does a great job of humanizing the characters, making it is easy to become engrossed in these story lines and care about what happens to them.
Berg made sure to capture what it’s really like to be an offshore oil rig worker. The audience sees Wahlberg preparing to leave his family, enjoying their last hours together before he leaves for three weeks. Once on the drilling rig, the audience is given insight of what it’s like living on board a 396 ft x 256 ft floating platform, including the tight living quarters and playful banter between co-workers.
When the crew boards the off-shore drilling rig, it is clear that tensions are running high. The project was 43 days past its scheduled completion date and $53 million over budget. Head Supervisor Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) continuously argues about safety regulations with BP executive Don Vidrine (John Malkovich) who is on the oil-rig for what seems to be a production review. This is ironic considering the crew won a safety award on the day of the explosion.
There are a lot of characters in the movie that are introduced and never heard from again because of the explosion. It was difficult to form a connection with anyone other than the few that are presented within the first ten minutes of the movie. John Malkovich did an amazing job of channeling his inner villain; making Vidrine reprehensively unlikeable character.
“Deepwater Horizon” is packed with explosions, action and several intensely violent scenes. It was hard to watch at certain points of the movie; especially knowing this film is based on true events. Seeing the human body take on so much trauma is difficult. The romantic undertone, however, between Wahlberg and his worried wife back home (Kate Hudson) helped ease the intensity of the more graphic scenes. The scenes where Wahlberg and Rodriguez are fighting to get off the drilling rig, although intense, were more emotional than anything else.
It is clear from early on in the movie who the good guys and bad guys are. Despite public knowledge of the actual events, the movie leaves the audience hoping that everyone on the rig makes it out alive. It was refreshing to see beyond the explosion, and what happened in the aftermath. One of the most powerful scenes from the movie was when Wahlberg’s character just got back on land after the disaster and he just breaks down while his family holds him. Berg did not hold back on that scene, which we can all appreciate since there was not a dry eye or sniffle-less nose in the theater.
Following the film, Camille Peres, assistant professor at Texas A&M University gave an informative presentation, that included specific details about what took place in the days leading up to the disaster, as well as events that took place on the actual day. As there were certain technical aspects of this film that were difficult to understand, it helpful to have someone there to explain some of the more specialized vocabulary.
“Deepwater Horizon” is a captivating illustration of man’s will to survive and the incredible selfishness that led to such a horrible tragedy. It hits especially close to home, living in a Gulf Coast town; we were impacted by this disaster.
