Movie Review: Deepwater Horizon

Over the weekend I was finally able to go see the flick Deepwater Horizon.  It stars Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and Douglas M. Griffin.  "A dramatization of the April 2010 disaster when the offshore drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded and created the worst oil spill in U.S. history."  As of 10/10/16 it had a rating of 7.6 on IMDB.

I'll start off by saying I agree with the rating and gave it a 8.  I really enjoyed the flick and don't have a lot of bad things I can say about it.  The biggest complaint, and this isn't a huge one, was the inclusion of Wahlberg's family.  I understand it was done to add to the drama but it didn't really add much to the flick in my opinion.  One could argue it made him feel more human but for me I felt like it was added to tug at my heart strings, which I didn't need at the end.  11 men lost their lives, and not the person that Wahlberg played, I think it would have had more impact there but I understand you also have to go with star power.

As far as everything else, I really enjoyed this flick.  The acting was fantastic, and if you look at the cast one shouldn't be surprised there.  Wahlberg is good at what he does and this is the kind of flick he is really good in.  A sarcastic tough guy.  I don't mean that as a bad thing, he is fantastic in most of his roles because he picks them wisely.  And what can someone say about Kurt Russell.  He has been doing this for what....60 years?  Something like that.  They are both amazing in what they do.  The rest of the cast was amazing as well just those two stood out along with a great subtle performance of Ethan Suplee, who usually plays the larger than life characters

Now about the topic of the film.  It was a tragedy that it happened and made worse that 11 men lost their lives.  It was the result of corporate greed, most likely.  Based on the movie it is unclear if Vidrine and Kaluza worked on their own or if they were pressured from above to get this project back on track.  

However I will say that their thinking was correct from what was shown in the movie.  I honestly believe that this was a case of people cutting corners because the facts given showed they could.  I could be wrong because I know jack and shit about it but that is my conclusion from the info shown in the flick.  I don't for one second believe that anyone would have done what they did if they knew that was going on some 3 or 5 miles below them.

Overall worth checking this flick out and I kind of wish I had gone to the Imax showing given how large it was.  Worth seeing in the theater because of the big budget explosions.  Wouldn't be the same unless you have a large screen and surround sound.