'The Perfect Storm' blows up gale force thrills

By Joko E.W. Anwar

JAKARTA (JP): The Perfect Storm serves as a respectable disaster film among those based on actual events, where the drama about the making of heroes of some and victims of others can match the vivid details of the catastrophe itself.

In October 1991, a rare combination of weather phenomena with virtually no warning whipped up huge waves and winds over 120 miles per hour, and caused rain so intense in the North Atlantic that meteorologists dubbed it the "perfect storm".

A group of six fishermen aboard the Andrea Gail set out to sea from the port of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to catch swordfish -- and unwittingly headed straight into the storm.

With families and relatives praying together on the shore for their loved ones' safety, several men in rescue vessels and helicopters risked their lives to save those caught in the middle of the biggest storm of the century.

Director Wolfgang Petersen succeeds in recreating the event, especially when portraying the sheer terror of being caught in a furious sea.

Petersen, who directed the great World War II underwater drama Das Boot, really knows how to capture a claustrophobic nightmare in the ocean.

The perfect combination of Industrial Light & Magic's computer groundbreaking wizardry and enormous sets (including the largest sound-stage tank in film history) brings the destructive torrents of water to life.

The film also used a full-scale replica of the Andrea Gail attached to motion-inducing gimbals.

One of the fine spectacles in the film is the swordfishing, which used four swordfish animatronics. They were made by Walt Conti at Edge Innovations, who built the ferocious sharks in Deep Blue Sea and the gigantic Anaconda.

In the drama department, the film provides a lot of the background story to the main event, explaining the motivations of the Andrea Gail men to sail beyond their usual fishing territory.

Billy Tyne, played by George Clooney, is the captain of the boat who has lost his sense of where the fish are to be found.

A fisherman all his life, Tyne is determined to land a big catch.

The rest of the crew are a bunch of likable folks. Among them are the divorced Murph (John C. Reilly), who is doing his best to support his son and estranged wife, and Bugsy (John Hawkes), a man who just wants to have someone to come home to.

There are good performances all round, including from Rusty Schwimmer in a small role as Irene, a woman who finally gives a little love to Bugsy.

Clooney manages to radiate his usual screen persona without being overbearing, thanks to the screenplay by Bill Wittliff, who also wrote Legends of the Fall.

The film was based on a bestseller, with nearly 3.5 million copies in print in the United States alone, written by Sebastian Junger (the author, who reportedly did a lot of research to write the book, founded The Perfect Storm Foundation, which is meant to give a chance to young people from Gloucester, the oldest fishing industry town in the United States, to have the choice to seek jobs outside the area).

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio makes her acting return to the sea after her marvelous performance in James Cameron's underwater adventure The Abyss in 1989. She plays a friendly rival to Billy Tyne, another fishing boat captain who always gets the big catch.

The predisaster scenes work nicely to bring audiences to the spectacle and the film thankfully avoids melodrama (although it flirts with it in a tear-jerking scene between Murph and his son).

The effects are spectacular; when the waves arrive on the screen, audiences will hang on to their seats as if they were there in the water.

Unfortunately, the film is not without flaws.

The interaction of scenes on the Andrea Gail and the cruise ship Satori which was also caught in the storm seems disjointed.

There is also more than a little irritation from the speculation about what actually happened on the Andrea Gail, an element which was reportedly not part of the book.

The touch of authenticity comes from the subplot involving the Cost Guard cutter Tamaroa and the H-3 rescue helicopter which lost a crew member at sea during the rescue.

The segment including rescue team members jumping into the water with zero visibility is so gripping the story almost shifts its focus to them.

It is a relief that The Perfect Storm does not exploit a true disaster story which cost human lives by attempting to glamorize it for audiences.

The most recent offender on this front was the hugely successful disaster-at-sea Titanic. Audiences almost clapped when hundreds of people fell from the deck in the concluding scenes, thanks to the superb special effects which overlooked the very real human element of the drama. Thankfully, The Perfect Storm does not forget the human tragedy.