"Deep Water Horizon" is an effective disaster movie, plunging you, the audience, into the middle of explosions, fires and seemingly, no escape. What's not so good is it doesn't really delve into what caused this epic disaster other than 'corporate greed.' Director Peter Berg is meticulous in reconstructing the largest environmental disaster in American history and that's a gripping experience. In a broad sense, the screenplay, by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Matthew Sand, blames BP, the oil company that contracted the Deepwater Horizon to drill 60 miles off the coast of Louisiana. John Malkovich plays the chief villain, engineer Donald Vidrine who urges employees to drill on despite their safety concerns. But he is a stand in for the evils of an entire industry that is willing to cut corners to save money and years of deregulation.
Experienced workers Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg), Andrea Fleets (Gina Rodrigues) and Caleb Holloway (Dylan O'Brien) prove to be ineffectual in trying to stop Vidrine from getting his way. Even the tough supervisor of Deep Water Horizon, Mr. Jimmy (Kurt Russell), can't stop events from marching on to its ultimate conclusion. Meanwhile, Berg builds tension as he cuts to the ocean floor, which is pouring out dangerous bubbles of methane that will eventually burst into flames. Once the explosions happen, the movie gets better, telling the stories of real-life-heroes, who jumped into action during the crisis. "Deep Water Horizon" is successful as a disaster movie; if you want more, you'll be disappointed.
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