Deepwater Horizon - Movie Review

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Kate Hudson, Dylan O'Brien, Ethan Suplee, Brad Leland and J.D. Evermore.
Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan & Matthew Sand.
Directed by Peter Berg.

★★★½

This is a solid, straightforward effort as the star (Mark Wahlberg) and director (Peter Berg) of Lone Survivor are reunited to tell the story of the 12 hours that led up to the explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig that led to the biggest oil disaster in history.

It's white-collar vs. blue-collar. Kurt Russell is Jimmy Harrell, the head of the rig and the one who wants to make sure all of the safety tests have been conducted. John Malkovich is Vidrine, the BP exec who feels like they're behind schedule and they don't really need to do all of the tests. While they're the main conflict, the movie also has us get to know Mike (Mark Wahlberg) and Andrea (Gina Rodriguez) and a few other crew members so that we care about these characters before the inevitable disaster hits.

Once it does, it becomes The Towering Inferno at Sea. Berg has already demonstrated himself to be a solid action director, and he makes the stakes harrowing. A few crew members did die that night, and unless you studied the backstory before seeing the movie, you won't which ones might be among them.

At the same time, this does feel respectful to the people who were involved in this tragedy. No Jack & Rose love story thrown in.

Miss Peregrine #1, Deepwater #2 at box office

For the weekend of September 30-October 2, 2016, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children won the day. Based on the best-selling book, the Tim Burton-directed feature didn't open as high as Fox would have hoped, considering its budget. The book has two sequels, but book-series adaptations haven't proven to be guaranteed hits. For every Harry Potter, there's a Golden Compass. For every Hunger Games, there's a Mortal Instruments. Depending on how well it does overseas, it's more likely than not that this'll be a stand-alone film.

Deepwater Horizon is another solid effort from director Peter Berg, but not enough people could get interested in seeing a movie about an oil-rig explosion. Too bad.

Masterminds was long-delayed due to Relativity's financial woes. It would have opened to twice these numbers had it come out as originally scheduled last year.

Queen of Katwe failed to spark interest with its expansion.

In limited release, Denial (starring Rachel Weisz) and American Honey (starring Shia LaBeouf) found success.

Opens October 7
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN with Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson.
THE BIRTH OF A NATION with Nate Parker, Armie Hammer and Jackie Earle Haley.
MIDDLE SCHOOL with Lauren Graham, Thomas Barbusca and Griffin Gluck.