Deepwater Horizon (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Peter Berg (The Rundown, Hancock, Battleship, Lone Survivor)
	Actors: Mark Wahlberg (Transformers 4, Ted), Kurt Russell (Deathproof, Bone Tomahawk), Douglas M. Griffin, John Malkovich (R.E.D., In the Line of Fire)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 02.01.2017, in-flight entertainment system 10" screen
Synopsis: Mike Williams (Wahlberg) is on his way to 21 days of work on the research platform Deepwater Horizon. He is accompanied by the station chief Jimmy (Russell) and meets the BP company representative Vidrine (Malkovich). They are under time pressure to move on to the next well.
Review: This kind of movie obviously makes you want to strangle any of the company representative that only work for maximum profit, but that's the capitalist world we live in. As often, in the case of that story inspired by real events it had dramatic consequences on the live of people and on the environment. From the trailer of this movie seen six months ago, I didn't know if I should expect a quasi-documentary or more a long succession of ultra-heroic action performed by the character of Mike. Thankfully it didn't go in that direction but instead spends a good hour introducing the characters, the stakes, the situation and simply building up tension until the anticipated accident occurs. It was informative to learn about the logistics of working on offshore platforms: from transport organization (by helicopter) to long shifts away from family, hard work, socializing with co-workers and standing hierarchy. This all reminds me a lot of my own life in a remote astronomical observatory, with of course less isolation and much less risk. The well-written screenplay is helped by the performances of Wahlberg (quite standard in fact), Russell that I still love to see coming back, and an antipathetic Malkovich that we love to hate. I also liked seeing in a small role the too rare Ethan Suplee that I loved in the TV-series My Name is Earl with Jason Lee. The second part is visually impressive although I didn't even see it in the best conditions, and the bravery moments were probably embellished but are sparse and realistic enough to make a consistent movie.
Rating: 7 /10