The Perfect Storm . Tucson Weekly . 07-17-00

The Perfect Storm

DIRECTED BY: Wolfgang Petersen

REVIEWED: 07-17-00

It's like all the digital forces colliding in this dizzying disaster movie sucked more or less all of the chemistry out of the human element, but in a way that's a relief. Synapses can only fire so many times in the span of 129 minutes, and the white-knuckled, jaw-clenching anxiety of this unbeatable battle with hurricane Grace in the North Atlantic makes life seem far more precious than that tired, salty love story between Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane, anyway. George Clooney pilots this adaptation of the true tale of six Glouster fisherman who set out in the fall of 1991 and find themselves caught in the storm of the century. For those with recurring nightmares about the sea, The Perfect Storm has a little of Jaws and The Poseidon Adventure brought by Industrial Light and Magic into the 21st century. Not much to recommend the screenwriting, but plenty of tension and technical mastery. Also starring Mary Elizabeth Mastratonio and John C. Reilly (Magnolia's gun-losing boy in blue).

--Mari Wadsworth

Interviews
The Perfect Storm

Full Length Reviews
The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm

Other Films by Wolfgang Petersen
Air Force One
Das Boot
Outbreak

Film Vault Suggested Links
The Trigger Effect
The River Wild
Terminal Island

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